Dragonball Z: Golden Age
by TheWriteFiction
Summary: After the Cell Games, Gohan decides to follow his own path in life and use his powers to protect the Earth. But with new and more powerful enemies surfacing- aliens, assassins, demons and Gods- and new dangers lurking around every corner, he will soon find that this job is not going to be easy.
1. Prologue

**Hi there. My first story for this site. Sorry in advance if it seems a bit rough.**

 **I wrote this fanfiction because I wanted to take a different approach to the character I related to the most next to Luke Skywalker when growing up as a kid: Son Gohan. In watching the show I really hated how he was side-lined after Cell and got the crap beaten out of him constantly, and he never seemed to do anything about it or have that fact sink into his head (I sure as hell would've, since I'm guessing that's the fault of the author).**

 **Considering how low he's sunk over the years, I feel like I should do his character some justice, as well as for Piccolo, Tien and Vegeta too, because they sure as hell need some more wins. Krillin got his win because he got Android 18 (which is a win-win situation no matter how you try to slice it) and Yamcha... well... I'm sure he's fine with how his life is turning out.**

 **This is the prologue to my story, which is set immediately after Cell and before Bojack. The fic will include the movies, as well as new villains I've invented, new arcs (not just Buu), and maybe move into Super's timeline sometime in the future. It'll also have some of my flare and taste in it, which, and fair warning, includes a vast assortment of anime watching and enjoyment.**

 **While Super is definitely not the same tone as the later parts of Dragonball and the entirety of Dragonball Z, since it's crossing over countless aspects from the Doctor Flapp and Galactic Patrol series, and is pretty much made of Shonen and DBZ tropes, parodies and throwbacks, there are some bits I do like about it: such as Hit, some sort of galactic government/hierarchy, an evil Goku (kind of), and Pan (she is so adorable!), and Gohan's family dynamic.**

 **Hope you guys like this. :)**

 **DRAGONBALL Z**

 _ **Golden Age**_

 _Prologue_

(A month after the Cell Games)

(Somewhere in deep space)

Across the wide stretch of universe, somewhere in the outland territories of the western quadrant, the quiet and stillness of the sector was broken by the sounds of battle.

Over a large terrestrial world of endless desert and ocean, a transport-class vessel the size of a large frigate, shaped like a broadsword with three drive assemblies built into its rear and the mark of the Galactic Patrol emblazoned on its side, was currently hauling ass through the region at a ridiculous speed. At the same time four of its eight plasma turrets, which it had mounted towards the stern, were firing red energy bolts back at an approaching behemoth, which turned out to be an enormous grey star ship.

Its hull riddled with sensors and viewing windows, the skyscraper shaped, 3 kilometer long vessel with what looked like a small city built on top of it, with multiple decks and battery emplacements, most of which were firing at the smaller craft, thundered after its prey at full speed.

The two enemies traded blasts, the pilots of the smaller craft doing everything they could to keep their shields up and their vessel away from the line of fire. But just as they seemed like they were pulling away, two well-placed laser bolts from the larger ship's front hit its back plates and took out two of its engines. Its other engine died out, leaving the vessel drifting and dead.

Seizing the moment, the larger ship moved in and tractor beamed the frigate into one of its many hangar bays below. Bridges were deployed and hooked up to the vessel's portside doors.

Onboard the _Galactic Patrol_ vessel, the guards assigned to the flight, adorned in purple spandex uniforms, white armor plating, armed with white rifles and spears, and consisting of a plethora of alien species ranging from lizard types to tiny, imp-like creatures, rushed towards the entrances of the frigate and took aim at the doors.

"They'll be breaching at any second now, men!" the officer in charge, a big alien wearing a warrior's standard of the typical patrol uniform and battle mask barked as he gestured for the men and women into positions along the walls. "Do not let them past this corridor! Hold them here!"

" _ **Yes, sir!"**_ the Galactic Patrol officers replied in unison, each and every one of their weapons loading with a loud hum.

However, before the guards could fully prepare themselves for the battle to come, the two entrances to their vessel were suddenly blasted open and, like a flood, countless humanoid figures- clad in grey metal armor with single yellow visor strips on the front of their helmets- poured into the hallways.

The army of enemy soldiers, armed with sleek, short-barrel plasma rifles, stormed the vessel and overwhelmed the squads of patrolmen inside, their blasters melting holes through their targets as they barreled their way through and occupied the ship's decks in a matter of seconds. Though the invading force also suffered heavy casualties in the ensuing firefight, it was the _Galactic Patrol_ who got hit the worst. Once the screams and sounds of battle finally died minutes later, the hallways of the now captured vessel were littered with the bodies and limbs of fallen guards and soldiers.

As a squad of grey Shock Troopers stationed at one of the entry points dragged the corpses of enemy and allied troops to the sides of the corridor, a new and far more foreboding presence suddenly appeared on the scene. Stepping in through the smoking entrance and ducking under the simmering archway, the loud clanking of heavy footsteps sounded the arrival of the commander. Almost instantly every man inside the ship stood at attention, the hallways seemingly darkening as a massive, hulking alien with a Goliath size and build, wearing a black, full-body spandex uniform, white hip, abdominal, and chest plates decorated by golden trim, white gauntlets, and face-fitting helmet bearing the design of a skull, stepped onboard the stricken craft.

The veil of smog parted under his mass, at the same time a pair of blood red eyes glared through the blackness of the two lenses of his visor.

The commander towered over his men like a monolith, his very presence bringing a cold chill to the sterile atmosphere of the vessel. To those on less developed worlds, he held the bearing of a monster- a creature from a children's storybook. But to those worlds scattered across this portion of the universe, the very name and reputation of this man made Frieza look like an ant ruling over a colony of lesser insects.

Hands positioned behind his back calmly, the giant figure with broad shoulders took a moment to survey the bodies littering his path, only to stop when he saw one of the seemingly dead _Galactic Patrol_ officers- the leader- struggling to get to his feet.

When the large, dazed man in the purple uniform looked up and saw the enormous figure glaring down at him, the security guard immediately bolted upright. "L-Lord Virion!" he shouted, reaching back and grabbing the phaser stored in his holster, "Die you scu-"

Before the man could even draw his weapon or finish his threat, the large commander, without moving so much as a finger, flashed his left eye at the soldier- the iris gleaming a hot orange. The Galactic Patrolman froze instantly mid-draw, a split second before his body, armor, helmet and all, crumbled and formed a pile of ash on the white floor.

Without even giving the remains a second glance, the colossal warlord continued to march down the hallway, treading through the guard's ashes while his soldiers continued to check the bodies for survivors.

The true purpose of the _Galactic Patrol_ vessel was revealed shortly thereafter as the army of armored Shock Troopers stationed in one of the ship's largest rooms began dragging aliens of different species out of the surrounding cells- all of whom were wearing orange prison uniforms- and lined them up against the wall, their backs turned and held at gun point.

When the imposing leader finally arrived at the cell block's entrance, one of the officers among the detachment of soldiers stood at attention beside him, a hologram manifest in hand. "My lord. The prisoner you're searching for is somewhere on this level: cell block A, room 13, detainee number 4026." After skimming through the electronic document, the trooper then looked up anxiously. "It says here the prisoner must be kept under energy restraining bolts at all times during transport. They're classified as highly volatile and extremely dangerous: a category 12 galaxy-wide threat."

" _ **Noted,"**_ Lord Virion grunted in a rough, deep and obviously artificial voice, before proceeding into the ship's block.

In response, the rest of the Shock Trooper squadron had the prisoners all drop to their knees while their master marched past them, the rasping of his mask's respirator filling the air with an unsettling tone.

After walking by an entire row of prisoners and open cells, the man then stopped at the front of one of the busted doors, where he watched two of his soldiers step out of the room to face him. The men quickly stood at attention.

"The prisoner is not here, sir," the corporal spoke.

"They must've escaped during the firefight," the other soldier added.

Peering into the chamber, Virion saw that the floor was covered in blood and that there were four metallic cuffs lying in bits and pieces on the ground. What's more, he saw that a massive hole had been burned into one of the walls where the air duct was, and that the metal around it looked as though it had been cut through by a powerful laser.

This led the observant Virion to one conclusion.

"She ripped off the restraining bolts," the nervous corporal informed.

Red eyes narrowing on the cell, the hulking tyrant suddenly spun around when the sounds of distant blaster fire echoed from another part of the captured vessel. Taking this as a sign of trouble, Virion and a squad of soldiers quickly marched to the scene of the disturbance, determined to investigate and pacify the problem. A little ways down the following corridor, they found two whole squads of their soldiers had been cut down, decapitated and blasted by an unknown assailant, who'd also left a trail of scorch marks along the walls, floor and ceiling.

Walking through the narrow terrain of smelted bodies, the lead scout pressed a button on the side of his helmet, producing a small hologram screen over his visor that immediately began crunching numbers in an alien language.

"The prisoner is headed for the escape pods!" he shouted in alarm.

Growling agitatedly, the tyrant shoved his way past the soldiers and marched over to one of the vessel's port-side windows. There, the warlord looked out just in time to see the frigate eject a small spherical craft, an _Attack Ball_ , from its underside and out into space. The second the craft was loose, the pod fired its engines and shot off into hyperspace, leaving a vapor trail in its wake.

Virion's displeasure was all too obvious, even through his mask, as he turned and began marching back down the hall, closely followed by his squad of Shock Troopers. _**"Track that pod. Find out where it's headed and run it down!"**_

"Sir, what about the crew and inmates?" the lieutenant with the epaulettes walking beside the warlord asked.

" _ **The prisoner that escaped is the only one I'm interested in. They are the key to completing my final plan,"**_ Virion growled before giving a dismissive wave, _**"Kill the rest."**_

"B-But my lord-"

The massive alien then promptly thrust his hand out and struck the ranking officer in the upper body with the back of his knuckles in a flicking motion. Instead of knocking the man into the wall like an ordinary blow from an alien of his size would, the instant Virion made contact with the insubordinate soldier he completely disintegrated the entire top half of his body without so much as a speck of dust, leaving only the man's lower torso and legs standing in place. Immediately upon atomizing the lieutenant's top half, the legs dropped to the ground in a useless heap, causing the rest of the soldiers nearby to freeze in terror.

Turning to the sergeant standing alongside the deceased officer, Virion sneered. _**"Kill the rest."**_ The frightened grunt nodded and quickly relayed the Emperor's orders to the rest of the platoon, allowing the tyrant to march off with his hands behind his back and a hunch in his shoulders.

As the ruthless warlord stormed through the ship's hallways, barely registering to the horrified screams of prisoners and crew members being executed, and the sounds of multiple plasma rifles going off all around him, the tyrant snarled to himself.

" _ **No matter where you go or how far you run, I will find you… Saiyan."**_

 _TO BE CONTINUED…_


	2. Bojack Saga - A Strange Tournament

**Dragonball Z**

 _ **Golden Age**_

 _A Strange Tournament_

(Meanwhile)

(Earth)

It was early morning and, as the sun started to rise over the distant mountains, the entire area of Mount Paozu was woken by a sudden and violent explosion. Smoke and flames billowed into the sky as what looked like an entire mountain sank into the ground, becoming swallowed up by the land and trees. Moments later, a series of golden flashes filled the air, followed by the terrifying sound of multiple shock waves going off one after the other in rapid succession. One of these sonic bursts was so powerful that the force from it disintegrated an entire area of forest and the ground beneath it, punching a three hundred meter wide crater into the earth.

The cause of this anomaly quickly revealed itself as a boy of eleven years old, clad in an orange and blue gi, with fiery blonde hair and green eyes, materialized into view above a large valley several miles away from the plume caused by the imploding edifice. Suspending himself several stories above the countryside, the glowing child unleashed a ferocious string of attacks, his fists and legs cutting through the air like bullets, before his form darted to the floor in a blur.

Touching down beside an enormous lake, the young boy gave a loud yell and thrust his right fist across the water, generating a deafening thunderclap as a sonic blast ripped over the mere, sending waves crashing into the forest on the other side while a hurricane gale had the entire area of woodland bending over like blades of grass. Before the winds from his attack had a chance to settle, the blonde boy spun around and thrust a sharp elbow in the opposite direction, causing another loud bang as a shockwave leveled an entire line of trees and took a chunk out of a rocky plateau hundreds of meters away.

Gritting his teeth as his eyes burned with fury, the young Super Saiyan clenched his fists and, letting out a mighty bellow of rage, powered up to his absolute maximum. His golden aura tore up the ground beneath him like confetti, the discharge of energy sending currents of blue lightning bolting across the field and tearing through the ground. In that instant, the boy's previously tame blonde hair extended and spiked upwards, leaving a single bang waving over his forehead as he ascended to the second level.

With his aura twisting around his body like a raging fire, causing the Earth itself to shake violently, the boy then thrust both hands upwards and, with a deafening roar, unleashed a massive golden blast into the heavens. His attack erupted from his palms with a violent blast and shot through the atmosphere, parting the clouds and swallowing up the sky. The attack was so impossibly large it could've easily burned a hole through several planets.

When the blast eventually dissipated and the light being produced by the column faded away, back down on the planet where the attack had originated from, standing in a cloud of settling dust and smoke, stood the young man responsible for the spectacular light show. The source was none other than Son Gohan.

Surrounded by the fluctuating aura and electric bio-field of his Ascended Saiyan form, the child lowered his hands from the sky and exhaled, before setting himself into a new fighting stance. What followed from that point once calm was finally restored to the region was a slow and elegant display of outstanding martial prowess, as the teen started shifting through a series of taijiquan movements, while his energy continued to flicker around him in a controlled state.

For the next several minutes he practiced his breathing and technique, getting used to the feel of ki rushing through him before then switching to a new style. Every once in a while his body would twitch and his aura would spark a little, but with a few deep breaths and several seconds of pause, he was able to dial it back to a reduced state.

Eventually his shadow sparring and self-guided session came to an end and the young Super Saiyan 2 took to standing in the middle of the field, looking out over the lush, sweeping valleys and forests. From there he saw the damage that'd been brought to the mountain region and, as the sights and sounds of the environment slowly returned to the vicinity, a heavy sigh escaped his lips.

"I should really think about training someplace else…" Gohan thought, realizing that going all out in Super Saiyan, much less his second form, in this place was obviously a real hazard. There was the high chance that his training was upsetting the local wild life and putting them in harm's way, which was something he wanted to try and avoid at all costs.

After a moment of surveying his space, the young Ascended Saiyan quietly returned to practicing his fighting forms, gently sifting across the grass as his arms and legs flowed through one stance after the other. At the same time, the adolescent warrior couldn't help but think back to the fateful conversation that led him to his current situation, one that had happened about four weeks ago.

Needless to say, it wasn't a pleasant encounter…

OOO

 **Flashback**

" _You want to what?!" Chi-Chi's scream filled the room, her face reflecting a clear sign of disbelief as her eyes fixed squarely on her son, who she could see standing in the middle of the kitchen with his hands at his sides and a resolute look in play._

 _Taking a deep breath, the young man in the white button-up top and black pants braced himself for the storm to come. "I don't want to just keep studying anymore, mum. I want to keep training with Mr. Piccolo and the others."_

 _Dish towel in hand, the raven haired woman's stunned visage quickly transformed into one of outrage, as the words her son spoke finally hit home. "Is this some kind of joke? Tell me you're joking!"_

 _Gohan shook his head firmly, "No. It's not. I'm one-hundred percent serious."_

" _Oh really?" His answer had Chi-Chi grit her teeth and stomp forward, "And what makes you think I'm going to let my only son go off and do something like that? Huh? Not only is it reckless and dangerous, but it's also a pointless waste of your time; time that is better spent on your studies." She then pointed at him and towards another part of the house, "I spent the last eight years of my life and a fortune buying you text books, study tapes and the latest in self-guided teaching and learning equipment so that you can get a good education and make something of yourself someday! I didn't spend those years raising you and taking care of you just to watch you throw it all away to become a thug!"_

" _I'm not going to become a thug, mum," Gohan retorted, his eyes narrowing irritably. "I'm going to become a strong fighter, just like my dad."_

" _And what do you expect to accomplish as a fighter, huh?" Chi-Chi asked, placing her hands on her hips as she glared down at her boy questioningly. "All your father ever did with his education was train, hunt animals and farm. But what else was he able to do?_ _ **Nothing**_ _! This family has spent the last ten years living off of his prize money and welfare. That's not even counting the little he and your grandfather were able to bring in every fortnight just to pay the bills. We've been scraping by with whatever we were able to earn and none of his martial arts training ever helped him to get a good job."_

 _From that point Chi-Chi began arguing with her son about the merits of a good education and where it could take him in life. The topics came spewing out of her mouth in non-stop waves as if she'd rehearsed every single one of them, about how his intellect could help change the world, feed the hungry, solve life's biggest problems, provide for his future family, and so on and so forth. She even had the guts to tell him that because of all his fooling around with his father and friends that he was falling behind in his work, and that the whole Cell debacle had set him back even more._

 _It was then after listening to the woman drawl on for about half an hour about what was best for him, Gohan had clenched his fists so tight that his fingernails were cutting into his palms and drawing blood._

" _I want you to do better than what your father and I were able to do," Chi-Chi concluded, a hard look on her face as she stared down her quiet and obedient son. "All of the money we were able to save up over the years was to help you with your future to become a scholar. There should be no arguing beyond that point."_

 _It was then Gohan mumbled through his teeth in a low and disgruntled tone of voice, "Maybe that's not what I want to do with my life."_

" _Excuse me?"_

" _Mum, tell me… were you happy with your life?" His question caught Chi-Chi off guard and had her look at him in surprise, as her son then looked at her with a glare. "Even though you didn't have much, did marrying dad and having a family with him make you happy?"_

 _Not knowing where Gohan was going with this, Chi-Chi nodded her head slowly, "Y-Yes. Of course. Moving into this house, marrying your father, and having you was what I'd always dreamed of, ever since I was a little girl. Even though our family fell on hard times and we didn't get to spend many days together after the Saiyans showed up, I couldn't have been happier."_

 _It was then Gohan pressed on his attack. "Well… have you ever stopped to think that maybe studying day-in and day-out and getting blood blisters on my back just to end up in some boring office job is something that I don't want to do… that maybe I'd like to have a chance to do something different with my time… something that I actually_ _ **want**_ _to do." His expression then became firmer and firmer the further he went. "Ever since I was able to walk and talk, you've always been there to tell me what I should and shouldn't do… that fighting and having an active lifestyle outside of the house was bad, and that studying and reading would help me to become successful. Everything I've done to this day has been done by your design. Hell, when I was only four years old, you told me that becoming an orthopedist would be a good profession for me… and I had no idea what the hell that even was!" He then threw his arms out in disbelief, "I mean, for crying out loud, mum, I've studied so much in the last eight years that I can literally do university level arithmetic with my left hand, write a fifty five page report on Ken Wilson's Quantum Fields and point out all of his flaws with my right hand, and recite the quantum chromodynamic gauge invariant lagrangian in my sleep!"_

 _Shutting her mouth, the mother took in her son's outburst as he stood there, staring at her with an incredulous look on his face and anger in his eyes._

 _Gohan then jabbed a finger towards another part of the house, "Most of my childhood has been spent cooped up in that room. I've even started writing a thesis on Singular Symmetric Hyperbolic Systems and Cosmological Solutions to the Einstein and Fulcrum Equations. I can get a doctorate two times over and I'm not even in fifth grade yet! Yet I'm still studying! So what more do I have to do?!" He then dropped his hand and began jamming his finger into his palm. "In the last eight years, I haven't had any time to go out, I haven't made any friends or met any people my own age, the only people I've ever socialized with has been Piccolo, Krillin and the others, and I haven't even taken the time to travel to other cities, much less other countries. I mean… how am I expected to function in the world if I don't know anything about living in it?"_

 _Looking down shamefacedly at the outraged look on her son's face, Chi-Chi then looked up at him sadly. "B-But-"_

" _But what?"_

" _Wasn't becoming a scholar… your dream?"_

" _No. That was_ _ **your**_ _dream for_ _ **me**_ _; the one you've been constantly beating me over the head with for the last eleven years of my life, both with words and with a cane. It was only until recently that I realized this," Gohan said, dropping his hands and giving his mother a hard stare. When he saw she was still looking away unable to form a response to his rant, the boy then did something he knew would get his message across and, clenching his fists tightly, produced his golden aura around him with a clap. Hair flashing blonde, he gave his mother a full glimpse of his Super Saiyan form, his expression radiating with intensity. "This is who I am, mum. I am not just your son… I am my father's son too. If I was to simply reject and ignore that aspect of myself, not only would I be treading on dad's memory, I would also be denying a part of myself… and that's not something I'm willing to do."_

 _After staring at the ethereal form of her son for several moments in awe, Chi-Chi then saw the teen's aura fade. However, instead of going back to his base form, Gohan simply powered down to his controlled Super Saiyan state, his expression softening and taking on his normal kind exterior, as if the fact that he was transformed completely went over his head._

" _I have the power to change the world and protect it from the people who want to destroy it. If I train and become strong enough, I'll not only be able to save our future, but the futures of billions more to come. My father and everybody else saw it… and now I can see it too." He then shook his head at his mother. "When I fought Cell, dad sacrificed himself because of the mistakes I made on that day… and my friends suffered because of my weaknesses. If something like that were to happen again, I want to be prepared to face it. That's why I'm not going to waste my gifts sitting in a room writing essays and reading books anymore. From now on, I want to live my life_ _ **my**_ _way… just like dad always wanted."_

 _Hearing her son's statements and determination had Chi-Chi stop for a moment, as she leaned back against the kitchen counter and looked down at the floor. Taking a moment to collect her thoughts and recover from the bombardment, the raven haired mother then looked up at her child. When she did, she saw the silhouette of her husband standing directly behind Gohan's shoulder, wearing the same look of vigilance she knew he wore when confronted with adversity. It was an expression that swayed her more than she cared to admit and, after seeing her beloved husband reflected in her son's stance and spirit, couldn't help but let a small smile creep into view._

" _You really are as stubborn as he was," the woman said, drawing a broad grin from the young Saiyan._

 _Gohan chuckled and scratched his head sheepishly, "Krillin and Bulma told me the same thing, so it's gotta be true."_

 _Chi-Chi's expression then turned apprehensive once again, "Are you sure this is what you want? Giving up your education to train?"_

 _Allowing the woman a brisk nod, the half-Saiyan then clenched his fists and held them up, "Yes. I'm positive that this is what I want." He then shared with his mother a reassuring look. "Don't worry. I'll keep studying a little bit every day so that I can keep up my literacy and mathematical skills. But I'll do it on my own terms." After which he then jabbed a thumb into his chest. "I also want to hang out with the others and go out to see the rest of the world… and see what it's actually like."_

 _This aspect of his proviso certainly helped cheer Chi-Chi up, who then stood off of the counter and firmly placed her hands on her hips. "Alright, son. If this is how you want it… then I'm not going to stop you. But I just have one condition." Her frown then returned a few moments later as she held a finger up to her now blonde son. "I want you to go to a good school and college one day to get your PhD, in case your plan to follow in your father's footsteps doesn't pan out. Do you promise me you will do that at least?"_

 _Gohan nodded affirmatively, "Yes, mum. I promise."_

" _Good." She then breathed a heavy sigh and dropped her arm. "Even though this is something you want to do, it doesn't mean I have to like it. I hate the idea of you fighting."_

" _I know," Gohan chirped before grinning broadly, "But I am part Saiyan… and honestly, after everything that's happened so far, I think I'm starting to enjoy it." It was a part that'd been rubbing off on him ever since he'd spent time in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber with his dad, a trait that was later exemplified in the days following his fight with Cell. He wondered whether this was because his body was going through some sort of chemical response to unlocking his new level of Super Saiyan. It certainly wouldn't have surprised him in the least. All he did know was that he now enjoyed the prospects of fighting and the idea of trading blows with someone gave him a thrill that no other activity could give him._

 _Shaking her head, Chi-Chi then waved for her son to head off, "Well then, Mr. Hero. Go on and get your room tidied up and come back to help me with the chores. I've got a lot of work that needs to get done before I let you off on your own."_

 _And that's exactly what Gohan did, turning and rushing back into his room with a spring in his step, a smile on his face, and a renewed sense of purpose burning in his chest…_

 **End Flashback**

OOO

And that's how that confrontation ended and now the young Saiyan found himself here.

Even though the Cell Games were over and done with and the world was now at peace, Gohan knew that the days of fighting wouldn't be over. Considering one of the biggest dangers their group had ever faced had come from their own backyard, right here on this planet, there was a good chance that there were threats even greater than the androids lurking about out there in the universe.

With his father gone, leaving a big gap in his life that he wanted to fill, the role of protector of the Earth had fallen in Gohan's hands and the young Saiyan was determined to see this task through to the end. Since he no longer had his dad's guiding hand and will to aid him, all he had left to follow was his memory and instincts. So far he'd been doing really well for himself.

It'd pretty much been the same routine Gohan had been following for the past month: get up at four o'clock, train for four hours, have breakfast with his mum, study for three hours, have lunch, do chores for a couple more, and then train for the last four hours in the afternoon, before having dinner and going to bed. He stuck to this timetable like a machine, drilling himself at every stage and setting himself a new objective at each turning point, while in-keeping with his father's philosophies and ideals. Every once in a while he would leave some time to rest, recuperate, and meditate, being sure to hit all areas of his martial arts training for a more holistic and refined development. He even left one or two days to go hang out with his father's friends.

His session right now was a perfect example of his training method. After doing a hard power session in the higher tiers of his Super Saiyan states, he was ready to calm down with a solid hour of technique work. If he didn't keep his skills and form sharp then his entire fighting style would fall apart, which was why he placed so much value on the training both his father and best friend Piccolo had taught him.

Maintaining his Ascended Saiyan form in a controlled state, just as he did his Super Saiyan form, the hybrid began going through the motions, practicing his kung fu movements and katas with superb grace and precision. His boots scraped along the ground as he alternated between the forms of taichiquan, hung ga kuen and changquan, his arms and legs cutting through the air like blades.

Several minutes in, Gohan's hand thrust towards a nearby oak, generating a wind that ripped several leaves from the branches. As they floated down, the Saiyan used his limb movements to generate a small stream of wind to guide the foliage towards him. When the leaves began cascading around him, the Saiyan changed styles and began practicing Wing Chun between the leaves, keeping them afloat while dancing between them, not even letting a single one of them touch him or the ground. A while later, the boy finished his exercise with a quick thrust of his palms towards the lake, his blow generating a gentle gust that caused a ripple across the tide's surface, which then gently guided the leaves towards the pond.

As soon as the foliage had been deposited on the lake, Gohan took a deep breath and exhaled; his body relaxing despite his Ascended Saiyan state. With the atmosphere settling around him, the teen then slipped out of his stance and glanced over his shoulder, as he sensed that he had a spectator.

Standing on another nearby hill, the imposing form of Gohan's longtime mentor Piccolo was watching his student with his arms folded and his cape billowing behind him. "Not bad. Your control over your new form has improved a lot over the last two weeks."

Gohan's face visibly brightened at the sight of his friend. "Mr. Piccolo." Dropping back to his first form of Super Saiyan, his hair flattening out and his previously harsh expression softening, the teen turned and walked over to his old master. "Hey. What's up?"

"Nothing. It's just that while you were training your power level spiked so much it felt like you were going to split the planet in half," the Namekian replied, expression and stance remaining unchanged. "I got worried and came to check on you."

The child cringed and rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, "Yeah. Sorry about that. I might have gotten a little bit carried away."

"Hmph. It's alright. Though you certainly gave Dende and Mr. Popo a scare," the Namekian commented, a small smile appearing on his face. "I'm glad to see you're taking your training seriously. Do you plan on staying Super Saiyan for a lot longer this time?"

"Uh-huh," Gohan nodded, bringing his hands up to look down at them. "It took me a few weeks, but I'm finally able to transform to the second level without any problems at all. I'm even starting to learn how to control the amount of strength I use in it." He then grinned up at his teacher. "Next week I'll start training to retain the form for longer than a few hours."

"Good," Piccolo replied with a beaming look in his eye, "Take it one step at a time. Don't push yourself. The more power you have at your disposal, the easier it is for it to get out of control. So take it slow and at your own pace." When he saw his student nod, the Namekian stepped forward and placed a hand on his head, rubbing it reassuringly. "I'm sure your father would be proud of you."

Grinning, the demi-Saiyan then nodded up at his friend. "I see you've been training a lot as well, Piccolo. You ready for the tournament today?" It was an event that'd been on his mind for a couple weeks now. In celebration of Cell's defeat, a man of great prominence and wealth had announced to the world that he would be hosting a large event, promising great honor and glory to the people who stepped up to face the one who saved them from the mighty terror.

Apparently a lot of the Z-fighters were looking forward to this day too and had been training to face off against one another in the coming fair.

"As ready as I'll ever be," the Namekian stated, his expression returning to its normal, stoic visage. "Though I'm not expecting much from the rest of the contestants, I'm sure you and Trunks will be able to give me a good fight."

"That's if we end up fighting in the same block," Gohan said, his green eyes shimmering with excitement as he brought his fist up and slammed it into his open palm. "I heard the _World Martial Arts Tournaments_ helped hone my father's skills. Perhaps this intergalactic version will do the same for me."

"Well, we'll soon find out, won't we," Piccolo remarked, turning about with a swish of his cape. "Come on. Your mother's waiting for us."

"Right," Gohan answered, falling in step with his teacher before the two of them kicked off the ground and took off, their flight marked by a loud whoosh of a jet as they effortlessly broke the sound barrier, heading back towards the Son Residence situated several miles away.

OOO

(A few hours later)

(Many miles away)

In the mobile box viewing room overlooking the primary staging area of what would most likely go down in history as the largest fighting competition in years, the _Intergalactic Martial Arts Tournament_ , the atmosphere had become choked with a sense of apprehension and excitement. The first was because of the sheer intensity in the air, as everyone present was getting ready for the big off, while the second was in anticipation of the performances to come. Overall it was a very mixed bag of emotions, which promised to erupt in a series of cheers and festivities.

Sitting by the window in front of a large buffet table, world famous billionaire and entrepreneur X.S Cash, his wife Lotta, and his son Monty, were all sharing a jovial conference with the one and only Hercule Satan, the undisputed, strongest man in the world, along with a handful of reporters hired to cover the events of the day. As cameras flashed left and right and the audience of writers clamored for attention, the people with microphones were bombarding the family with endless questions and inquiries, with a majority of them being focused on the Champ.

"Mr. Satan! Mr. Satan! Over here!"

"Are you looking forward to the matches today, sir?"

"What are the Champ's thoughts on the competition?"

"Are you expecting to meet any of your former rivals during the day's proceedings?" And so on…

As if he'd practiced this a thousand times over, Hercule answered each and every one of them with his hearty laugh and signature booming voice, telling them all how he was honored to be overseeing such a prestigious event and that he was looking forward to what kind of 'rookies' and 'potential challengers' would be gunning for him in the finals. Of course he made his responses as colorful and inflated as he possibly could, always being sure to redirect the topic towards his greatness, while at the same time never breaking the mould of confidence he'd cemented over the entire course of his career.

"Mr. Satan. Charlotte O'Brien: _Five O'Clock News_ , East City. Do you feel like you will meet someone who will pose a challenge to you in this tournament?" the woman reporter at the front asked, her brown hair, pink eyes and striking purple suit and skirt standing out above the black ties of male inquirers formed up behind her as she stuck her mic into the man's face.

"Well, I don't know about any challenges, but seeing as how I am a sportsman and a gentleman of unshakable honor, I'll be sure to give them and the people something to remember me by!" Hercule boomed back, sticking his chest out before throwing out yet another one of his forced laughs. As usual the press ate it up, the flashing of their cameras intensifying in their attempt to capture and immortalize this moment.

Monty, his beaming smile and bright eyes fixing upon the Champ through his round glasses, attempted to mimic the man in his display, laughing with his head reared back. This earned him a firm pat on the back from Hercule, who also raised his fist in the air for good measure. "Mr. Satan is the greatest!" the child chirped.

"I'm sure we'll be in for a real treat today," X.S Cash spoke, drawing the attention of the press as he laced his stubby, jewel encrusted fingers on his lap. His pot belly overflowed in his pin-striped suit as the man in the orange shades and bushy mustache grinned proudly. "Not only do we have Mr. Satan joining us, but a multitude of other famous and powerful fighters from all over the world, who've come here to compete for the grand prize and a chance to face off against the strongest man in the world."

"We also heard that Mr. Satan's eleven year old daughter is competing in this tournament," a male reporter at the front, an anthropomorphic fox in a green suit and brown fedora, spoke with a toothy smile in play. "Do you believe that young Videl Satan will also have a chance of making it through to the finals?"

At first appearing shocked at the reveal of his daughter participating, the befuddled, slack-jawed Champ quickly realized the cameras were on him and, readjusting his flashy cape and costume, the man cleared his throat and lifted his nose high in the air. "Well… seeing as how she is my daughter and my most promising student, I'm sure that Videl will do exceptionally well in this competition. Though she has trained under me ever since she was four years old, she still has a long way to go before she can even think about trading blows with her old man." He ended his response with a light chuckle, which earned a round of laughs and nods from the crowd of reporters.

While the group of vultures quickly turned their attention back to X.S Cash and young Monty returned to the plates of delicious food beside him, Hercule used that opportunity to quickly wheel around and bite his nails out of view of the cameras.

"W-What the heck is my sweet, little Videl doing here?" Hercule whispered, his eyes practically bugging as bullets of sweat began running down his face. "I… I thought Jenkins said she was going over to her friend's place today to watch the fights?"

Obviously she'd lied. However, seeing as how he was already here, surrounded by dozens of reporters and Cash's dotting family, there was no way he would be able to sneak out to try and find her. Not willing to cause a scene either, the man quickly gathered his wits and calmed himself down, before turning back to the cameras with his big, cheesy grin and afro in full, presentable view.

OOO

(Sometime later)

The _World Martial Arts Tournament_ was internationally recognized as one of the biggest and most recorded events on the planet, with ratings and viewership exceeding that of any other sporting competition. But while the yearly affair was well-known for its festivities and featuring all sorts of carnival attractions, all of this awe and splendor paled in comparison to the fiesta now taking place on the South Coast of the mainland.

Sponsored and organized by the richest man in the world, the vaunted billionaire and industrialist X.S Cash, the competition entitled the _Intergalactic Martial Arts Tournament_ promised to be a show unlike any in the planet's history. The entire event was set to be held on a private island designed and constructed by one of Cash's many companies, and with the massive turnout and attractions riddling the shore, the ceremonies and future main event were undoubtedly going to be out of this world.

As jets flew overhead, spewing colored trails of smoke, and carnival music blared from the countless stands and rides on display, the people who were already at the thoroughfare clamored with excitement as they marveled and enjoyed the various sights and sounds around them. The shoreline where the main balk of the celebrations were being held was jam-packed with all manner of rides and attractions to accommodate the large number of visitors, who were arriving to the area by the planeful from all four corners of the globe.

Moving between the tents and carnival rides setup along the main boulevard, the river of fiesta goers eventually spilled onto the large pontoon bridge crossing the wide channel to another section of earth. It was here where the main attraction was scheduled to take place and was to serve as the center for the world's most expensive martial arts competition.

The surface of the aptly named _Battle Island_ was reminiscent of something out of a wipeout episode, a series of towers, pillars, platforms and viewing stands molded together by a series of plateaus and rocky formations to create a single, unbroken superstructure. Overall, the island was an aesthetic masterpiece, artificially conceived by X.S Cash's men as an exciting theme park ride for the masses. Due to all the special features and attractions built into the landmass, there was plenty to see and do, which was made evident by the amount of people flocking to the island.

The largest, commercially acknowledged event in media history, featuring fighters from all over the world and Mr. Satan himself, as well as the promise of alien challengers from the deepest parts of the cosmos, drew an enormous crowd to the country. The seats were already filling with hundreds of spectators, who were now eagerly counting down the seconds to the start of the main event.

About an hour before the competition was set to begin, the announcer's voice blared across the island to inform everyone of the current situation. _**"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Battle Island; home of the very first Intergalactic Martial Arts Tournament! You folks are in for one heck of a show today, as we pit the greatest fighters this planet has to offer against one another for a chance to face off against not only the strongest man in the world, but warriors from across the galaxy! Stay tuned for the main event, as the preliminary rounds are set to kick off in just fifty minutes!"**_

This was the announcement that greeted Gohan, Piccolo, Chi-Chi, Trunks and Bulma as they stepped out of the latter's cargo jet and onto the main landing platform of the island, where they then capsulated the craft and proceeded to their respective rendezvous points. After showing their tickets and giving their entrance details to the security on station, they began making their way through the crowds to the main staging area. Arriving at the intersection that would lead them to the stands and arena assignment quarter, the group used the next couple of minutes to wish each other luck.

"Have fun out there boys," Bulma chirped, at the same time cradling her baby Trunks in her arms and giving her future son the thumbs up. "Give them hell out there."

"And don't you dare let any of those wannabe fighters beat you. That goes double for you, Gohan," Chi-Chi said while looking down at her son, whom she could see was standing beside Mirai and Piccolo, clad in his father's uniform and an excited look on his face. "Go out there and show them what you're made of."

Gohan beamed brightly in response, "I promise I'll do my best. You can count on it."

Thumbs slipped into the belt of his pants, the lavender haired fighter from the future sporting the blue vest, black singlet and yellow boots smiled across at the women, "We'll be sure to put on a good show for you two."

"You'd better," Bulma said with a grin, "We paid top dollar to get front row seats to this competition, so both of you had better come home with the prize money."

With that understanding made, the two groups then split up, the mothers being sure to see their sons off as they made their way to the registration ward. Once Piccolo, Gohan and Trunks disappeared into the crowd, the president of Capsule Corp turned to her friend with a warm look in play.

"This is the first time in a while since I've seen Gohan so happy," Bulma commented, as her memory from the past month slowly came back to her. "He must've been really looking forward to this."

"Ever since he heard about this tournament and learned how his father had fought in multiple world tournaments when he was younger along with Tien, Krillin, Yamcha and Piccolo, I'm not surprised to see him so amped up," Chi-Chi replied, a happy glimmer in her eyes as she stared after her son. "Looking at him the way he is now, I can see just how much like his father he actually is. Once he puts his mind to something, there's no way I'll be able to stop him."

Expression softening, the blue haired woman then reached over and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure you're going to be okay being in such a huge crowd? I mean…" Her eyes then glanced down at the woman's torso. "After finding out a couple of weeks ago, I figured you would-"

Placing a hand over her belly, Chi-Chi quickly looked back at her friend reassuringly, "Oh, don't worry about me, Bulma. I'm fine."

"Positive?" the scientist asked, receiving an immediate nod from her friend in response. She then gestured in the direction Gohan and the other two had left, "Have you told him yet?"

"No. But I will soon. Better later than before the tournament, since he needs to stay focused if he's going to win that prize money for us," Chi-Chi answered, before then turning around and pointing down their path. "Come on. Let's go grab a bite to eat and find our seats. We don't want to miss the opening rounds."

And that's exactly what they did. Following the crowd, both Bulma and Chi-Chi headed up the stairs to the food court, which would then lead them towards the spectator stands.

OOO

(Half an hour later)

After successfully making it down to the assignment area where all the participants were required to gather prior to the start of the contest, Gohan, Piccolo and Trunks were quickly herded to their respective arenas by a group of diligent tournament officials. Each and every one of the Z-fighters was directed to a flight of stairs or an elevator along with a dozen other martial artists, where they quickly found themselves scattered across one of eight specially designed combat stages.

As the new arrivals began checking out the layout of each of the surrounding rings, particularly the ones they were each assigned to, they then went about sizing up the competition. Even the Z-fighters took a moment to do the same, though with a little less enthusiasm. They were mostly impressed by the actual turnout of the competition and how elaborate the setup on _Battle Island_ actually was.

This particular sense of awe could be clearly seen reflected on the expression of one Son Gohan, who was currently standing in the middle of his fighting platform. "Man. This is one heck of an stadium. The entire thing looks like a giant, futuristic castle. It must have cost them a fortune to build all of this."

"What do you expect? They need a big arena if they're going to be holding a competition with over a hundred and fifty contestants in it," a girl's voice suddenly spoke up, drawing the young Saiyan's attention to his right. "Each of these rings alone is designed to host at least twenty to thirty fighters apiece."

When the adolescent looked down, he saw standing beside him another fighter around his age, a young girl with stunning blue eyes, black hair tied into a high ponytail, wearing a red oversized T-shirt with black trim, black spandex shorts, purple socks and yellow boots, looking up at him with a serious game-on expression. She also had a couple of first aid patches slapped on her left and right cheeks, indicating she'd gotten hit in those spots recently.

At first Gohan appeared surprised to see another fighter from his age group competing in the same tournament as him, especially a girl. However, his surprise was quickly replaced by curiosity, as he found himself staring down at the fierce looking adolescent with intent.

Seeing she had the young man's attention, the raven haired mystery girl looked away with a huff, her arms folded over her chest. "Honestly, I think this is all just a pathetic sham. Most of the fighters here are only in it for the chance to win the one hundred million zeni prize money… with the semi finalists being able to go home with eight million each, even if they lose. It takes the fun out of the whole tournament when you know it's just going to be one big circus performance."

Apparently a couple of the fighters nearby heard what the girl had to say and looked down at her with offended and irate expressions.

Hearing the teen's begrudged statement drew a chuckle from the blonde boy in the orange and blue gi. "I don't know. I think it'll be pretty interesting to see the kinds of fighters and martial artists there are out there in the world. With a turnout this big, you never know who's going to show up."

Glancing back up at him, the girl with the blue eyes cracked a smile, "You got a good point there."

"To tell you the truth, I'm actually really excited about this." Gohan then raised a hand as he went on with his explanation. "I haven't really fought in a contest like this before and since I never got the chance to see my dad compete in the previous martial arts tournaments, I'm really interested to see what an environment like this is like."

It was after looking the boy in the orange and blue gi over that the young girl turned to him with a look of greater interest. "Hold on… have we met somewhere before? You look very familiar."

"Huh? Really?" Gohan asked, reaching up to lightly scratch his cheek with his finger.

"Yeah." She then scrutinized his face and hair, taking note of his pale blonde locks and striking green eyes. "Hmm. Strange. I know I've seen you before, I just… can't quite put my finger on it."

"Maybe I just have one of those faces," Gohan joked, at the same time poking his cheek nervously. "You know the kind that you see at school or out on the streets. I haven't really gotten out much in the past couple of years, so I don't think you and I would have been introduced."

It was then the girl shrugged and uncrossed her arms. "Hm. Yeah. I guess you're right." She then smiled and extended a hand to him. "My name's Videl. What's your name?"

"Gohan," the demi-Saiyan replied while shaking her hand firmly. "Son Gohan. Nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," the girl answered pleasantly while disengaging from the handshake. "Sorry if I sounded a little short with you before. I'm just a little bit edgy at the moment."

"Oh? First time fighting in an arena?" Gohan asked, wanting to chance a guess as to what could be getting under her skin.

"Nah. Third time," Videl answered with a smirk. "It's actually a couple other things that have me worked up."

"Well, if you're looking for a time and place to get some stress off your shoulders, there's no better time than right here in the ring," Gohan chuckled, slamming his fist into his palm with an enthusiastic grin in play. "There's no shortage of dummies and knuckleheads on this platform… including me."

His eager remark earned a snicker and then a giggle from the young Videl, who had to cover her mouth to stop from laughing. The expression the boy made was priceless and the reaction the girl had put a warm smile on the young Saiyan's face.

"You're a real funny guy, Gohan," the girl commented with a soft voice and warm smile.

"Thanks. Normally it's my friend Krillin who makes the best jokes in our group. I guess a little bit of him must have rubbed off on me," the teen said, at the same time rubbing the back of his head in a very Goku-like manner.

This only served to bring a brighter look to the girl's face, as the pair stared at one another for a moment in silence, the rest of the world fading out around them as the announcer's voice echoed through the speakers.

 _TO BE CONTINUED_


	3. Bojack Saga - The Noble Warriors

**Dragonball Z**

 _ **Golden Age**_

 _The Noble Warriors_

(Meanwhile)

(Up in Otherworld)

"Man. And I thought the World Martial Arts Tournament was big, but this one takes the cake," the familiar voice of Goku spoke up in amazement. Leaning over the shoulder of his mentor from Otherworld, the man in the orange and blue gi, black spiky hair and golden halo hovering overhead was unable to tear his eyes away from the television as the camera panned over the arena that was _Battle Island_. "It's like I'm watching an Extreme Elimination Challenge episode back home."

"It may as well be," King Kai replied with a clearly amused look on his face. "The setup for this tournament is completely over the top."

"Yeah. But take a look at the layout," the Saiyan remarked with a whistle. "They have rings and fighting platforms all over the place. No matter where you fall off you're always going to end up hitting the water."

"I think that's what they're going for," King Kai explained, glancing across at his student with a sagely expression. "The first stage of this competition is designed to be a king-of-the-hill sort of deal, where they pit twenty or so fighters against one another in a massive free-for-all. Whoever is left standing at the end is declared the winner."

"That makes sense," Goku chirped, before looking back at the television with interest.

For the past month Goku, King Kai, Bubbles and Gregory had been holed up on this mountain peak in the middle of snake way, using it as a base as they thought about what they were going to do next. Though they had plans on moving a little further down the line, since their journey was taking so long they decided to stick around here for a little while and have a break. This gave them plenty of time to catch up on current affairs, while also discuss any plans they had for their future in the world of the dead.

It's not like this was a bad place by any stretch of the imagination. The mountain peaking out of the ocean of endless yellow clouds had a really awesome view of the celestial horizon and gave King Kai and co a decent place to sleep. The only bad thing about this place was the reception, which judging from the television they were able to scrounge up wasn't all that great.

Still at least they had some connection. As Bubbles and Gregory played a game of 'Old Maid' on the garden table in the background, Goku and King Kai were able to sit down and enjoy the broadcast that was now being shot up from earth. Ever since they'd heard about some big tournament going down on the planet, they couldn't resist tapping in.

As the live recording panned over the various contestants already gathered on the platforms, King Kai gave a disappointed sniff. "Look at all these jokers. Most of them aren't even interested in fighting the aliens or the Champ in this tournament. They're just in it for the chance to win the prize money." He would bet a Zeni that most of them wouldn't even be able to lift a fifty kilo dumbbell with one hand. Heck, even the 'aliens' waiting for them in the semi-finals weren't actually aliens. They were just a bunch of Hercule's top students that X.S Cash hired to play the role of extra-terrestrial challengers and had them dress up in costumes so people wouldn't recognize them. The entire thing was just one big letdown. "Back in my day, fighting meant a lot more than just an easy paycheck. Now it's become just like every other sport, filled with rookie hopefuls, fakers, phonies, and performers."

"Really?" Goku asked while raising an eyebrow at the screen. "I don't know. Some of these guys look pretty tough."

"By human standards, of course. Out of the hundreds of fighters competing, only about a handful of them would be taking this competition seriously. You friends and family in particular," King Kai said, a smile forming on his lips. "For them, fighting is a passion and a way of life. Heck, even your son is starting to get in on the action."

This information had Goku's face brighten considerably, "How is my son doing by the way? Is he alright?"

"Oh, he's fine," King Kai chuckled while glancing at his eager old student. "He's been training non-stop over the last couple of weeks since you last got in touch with him. After your battle against the androids, he's been getting stronger and stronger every day."

This news put a smile on Goku's face. "That's my boy." He'd known for a while now that Gohan had been keeping up his training. Even though he was all the way up here, he always made it a point to check in on his family and loved ones every once in a while. His wife and son especially were the two he looked in on the most and, with the help of King Kai, he could always make sure they were doing alright.

"That boy of yours sure is something else. He's growing up to be a fine young warrior with a strong arm and a big heart," King Kai commented, looking back to watch the feed switch over to another platform on the island. "Just like his father." When it did, they saw Tien's face pop into view, as the man was stationed in the center of the crowd with his arms folded and an intimidating visage in play.

Goku beamed down at the screen as it flickered between random cameras, "It's a shame I can't be down there with him."

Though he'd chosen to remain in Otherworld to protect his family and friends from any enemies that were likely to appear searching for him, the Saiyan clearly missed being with his loved ones. It'd been a tough decision to make back then. But with his presence constantly inviting more trouble as if he were the living embodiment of a jinx, Goku felt that he could wait it out a little while and see if there were any changes. Too many lives had already been lost on his account and he wasn't going to take any more chances. They could only be lucky so many times.

He swore he would return in the future. Until then, he was going to make the most of his time here in the netherworld and ready himself for the inevitable confrontation with his wife. The thought of getting screamed at by Chi-Chi again sent a phantom shiver down his spine.

As the pair continued to watch the feed and Goku sat down to get a little more comfortable, they then saw the broadcast switch over to another roaming camera. There, standing in the middle of the platform surrounded by dozens of other fighters, they spotted the distinct form of Gohan, in a controlled Super Saiyan state, chatting with a young girl around the same age as him with raven black hair done into a ponytail.

"Oh. It's Gohan," King Kai exclaimed.

"Yeah," Goku chuckled, his grin widening when the roaming camera zoomed in on his boy. "Hey. He's wearing the same clothes as I am. Chi-Chi must have made them for him."

The Northern guardian beamed warmly at the sight. "Must be his way of honoring you."

Unable to hide the look of pride reflected on his face, Goku then became interested in the girl standing next to his son and stared at her thoughtfully for a moment. "Huh. I wonder who that is."

A mischievous grin slowly formed across King Kai's face, "It looks like your son has made a new girlfriend."

"Already? At his age?" Goku asked incredulously, drawing a snicker from the Kai that completely went over his head. "Wow. My son works fast." His continued remarks only served to enhance his mentor's amusement.

OOO

(Back on Earth)

If it wasn't already apparent that this island was completely jam-packed with fighters and spectators, it was now. After purchasing some food and drinks from the food court on the levels below, Chi-Chi and Bulma then spent the next half an hour afterwards making their way up to their seats in the viewing balconies. It wasn't easy, seeing as how they had to navigate through an endless sea of civilians flocking in the exact same direction.

Successfully arriving at their destination thanks to the help of the tournament staff, the pair dropped into their seats and made themselves comfortable. A short while later, the announcer's voice blared to life through the intercom.

" _ **Thank you for your patience, ladies and gentlemen! Without further ado, we will now be starting the first round of the tournament!"**_ the charismatic voice of the competition's primary orator announced, drawing a collective cheer from every single person on the island. At the same time, the giant monitors and screens scattered across the staging area lit up with X.S Cash's logo, signaling the start of the contest's official broadcast. _**"The registration desk is now closed! All fighters and last-minute contenders in the warm-up pavilion please make their way to their assigned platforms to begin the preliminaries!"**_

"Alright! It's finally starting!" Bulma stated, her excitement being shared by the dozens of other people surrounding her. Readjusting her infant son's position in her arms as he squirmed about, the woman then peered over the side of the railing to gaze down at the stages they could see in front of them. "Let's see if we can spot Gohan and the others out there. If we're lucky they should all be assigned to different blocks."

"That shouldn't be too difficult," Chi-Chi quipped, joining her friend in her task as the screens nearby began listing all the fighters participating in the tournament. Each platform represented a single block on the tally, with all two hundred plus contestants being randomly allocated to each of the eight stages. The entire thing was designed to be a massive battle royale, where this first round of fighting would determine which of the contestants from the eight blocks would be moving on to the quarter finals, where the best from each block would then be pitted against one another. All in all, it was guaranteed to be one hell of a contest.

After a minute of searching the arenas in front of her, Chi-Chi grinned and pointed across the chasm, "Hey! There's Gohan!" Pulling out the two fans she'd brought with her, she began waving them in the air to try and get her son's attention, despite the fact he wasn't even looking in her direction. "Yeah! Go Gohan! I'll be cheering for you, son!"

"I've spotted Trunks out there as well!" Bulma announced immediately afterwards, pointing towards the tower nearby and the ring sitting on top of it. She then looked down at her baby and directed his gaze towards his future counterpart. "Look, sweetie. It's you!" In response the infant Trunks cooed happily, his tiny arms reaching for the platform in question. "Wow. That stage is a lot higher than I was expecting. What's going to happen when people fall off?"

"Ah. I'm sure they'll be fine. They just have to keep their legs straight before they hit the water," the Son mother assured, her eyes panning over the stadium before quickly spotting another familiar face. "I found Krillin!" She caught sight of the man easily; dressed in his signature orange and blue gi with the Turtle Hermit insignia all over it. The fact that he was also the shortest out of all the fighters on his platform and had a completely waxed head meant that he stuck out like a sore thumb. Seeing him wave towards the crowd with a big, cheesy grin on his face had Chi-Chi beam brightly. "He told us a couple of days ago that he would be participating. Since he and Goku fought in so many tournaments before, I'm not surprised he wanted to get involved."

"The enormous prize money must be what brought him here," Bulma murmured, earning a nod of agreement from her fellow mother. "The amount given to the winner and the four runner ups is pretty far out."

"I'm guessing that's why Yamcha is here as well," Chi-Chi added at the end while nodding towards the monitor hanging off of one of the nearby walls.

When Bulma glanced across at the display, she clearly saw her ex-boyfriend hanging around another group of martial artists on a ring that they couldn't see, dressed in his orange and blue gi, and wearing a big smile on his face. After seeing the screen move through the list of names, it then switched over to another platform, where the two mothers quickly made out the familiar face of Tien staring back at the camera, looking as cool and sharp as ever. The next to turn out was Piccolo, who in typical bad-boy Namekian fashion, had his back turned to the audience and his arms crossed. The sight of him actually drew a chuckle from the observing Bulma.

"If Tien and Yamcha are here, that means Oolong, Chiaotzu, Puar and Master Roshi can't be too far behind," Bulma reasoned, knowing that those four always stuck together during group outings. Though two of them never directly participated in the competitions while the other two were classified as retired, it was always refreshing to know their friends were still leading active lifestyles.

"Out of all the fighters here, I believe the only ones who aren't interested in the prize money at all are Piccolo and Tien," Chi-Chi said while crossing her arms. "Those guys are old school. They're just out here to have a little bit of fun."

"Same as Gohan, except he's going after the grand prize just like everybody else," Bulma added at the end, making faces at her youngest son as he went clambering about her arms and shoulders. She then looked across at her ring-side companion fondly. "Considering he's a Saiyan, he won't be satisfied unless he reaches the top and wins, just like his father."

"Speaking of fathers, didn't you ask Vegeta if he wanted to come along as well?" Chi-Chi asked, giving her friend an inquisitive look. "Considering this is the last time you guys will be able to see Trunks before he goes back to his time, wouldn't he want to participate in this tournament too?"

Her question had Bulma frown and look away angrily, "Of course not. Whatever passion Vegeta had for fighting is long gone. He just mopes around the house all day and stays locked up in his room for hours on end. Hell, he doesn't even bother to go out to train anymore. I don't know what's going on in that thick head of his."

Looking down thoughtfully, Chi-Chi slowly turned her attention back to the various platforms spread out in front of them. "He hasn't been the same since Goku died."

It was a pretty depressing thought, but what could they possibly do? The man was just going to have to get out of his slump his own way.

XXX

(Meanwhile)

Over on Gohan's platform, the young Super Saiyan in the orange and blue gi was having a very enjoyable conversation with his new friend Videl. Even though they were surrounded by dozens of big and imposing martial artists all gearing up for a fight, the pair still found the time to smile and look cheerful, as they were busy processing every word the other person was speaking to them.

Judging from their current expressions, it was safe to say they were really having fun chatting with each other, being in their element and all.

"So you've been practicing martial arts ever since you were four as well, huh?" Gohan asked, hands on his hips as he saw the raven haired girl nod in response. "That's pretty cool. You must really like fighting then?"

"What can I say? It runs in the family," Videl informed with a shrug, at the same time crossing her arms in front of her. "Not only was my dad a fighter, but my mum was a martial artist too. That's how the two of them first met."

"Really?"

"Uh-huh. Years ago my father was training a group of students at a small gym that he owned in the city. It was the same place my mum regularly visited in between work, because she liked the atmosphere and it wasn't so overcrowded. When my mum came over to spar with him, not only did she manage to win, but she put him on his back in the first throw. Up until then that was the first time my dad had ever been beaten by anyone in a one-on-one fight."

"She must have been a really strong woman to have done that," Gohan remarked cheerfully, finding the girl's story to be very interesting.

"My mum did judo all throughout high school while my dad practiced karate," Videl continued, her smile widening as she gazed at the boy in front of her. "He fell in love with mum at first sight and the two of them ended up running the gym together before they had me. From the stories they told and the pictures they showed me, I could tell they were really happy." It was then a sad look came over Videl's face and she looked away momentarily, a sight that did not go amiss by the studious Gohan. "Mum… passed away a couple years ago."

Gohan's own expression saddened at this news and he lowered his head, "I'm sorry."

Taking a deep breath, the raven haired girl looked up again. "Things weren't the same after that… especially between me and dad. When I was younger I used to love hanging out with him and training at his gym, but as the months went by he started acting more and more arrogant and idiotic. It just got worse the more famous he became… and now all he ever does is show off and act like a big-shot, both in and outside the house." Videl then shook her head furiously, as memories of those times started flashing in her head like a strobe. "Dancing around in the ring, bragging to the cameras, bringing home new women every night… if mum saw how he was now I bet she'd give him a good, hard punch to the face."

Remaining quiet for a moment as the clamor of the crowds in the background continued, Gohan then gave the girl a sympathetic look. After all, he couldn't deny the fact that he knew how she felt. "Maybe doing all of that is just your dad's way of coping with things. I mean… everyone reacts differently when they lose someone close to them, especially someone that they really love. After hearing what you have to say, acting out the way he does probably helps your dad get through the day."

"Yeah. Maybe," Videl murmured, her expression softening briefly before scrunching back up again, "But it's still embarrassing! I hate it!"

Gohan nodded in understanding. "I can only imagine."

Taking a few deep breaths to calm herself down, the upset girl quickly realized where her conversation had led her and she quickly turned to give the blonde teen an apologetic look. "Sorry for going off at you like that, Gohan. I… I guess I'm still just a little angry at how my dad's been acting over the last couple of weeks."

The Saiyan tilted his head and gave the tomboy a warm smile. "That's okay. If my listening helps make you feel better in any way, then I'm more than happy to lend you an ear." He then nodded to her assuredly and lifted his hand in a sincere gesture. "I promise I won't tell a soul."

A sense of gratitude and admiration became reflected in Videl's eyes as she smiled softly at the blond. "Thanks, Gohan."

"Don't mention it."

Before either of the two youngsters could talk about anything else, the voice of the tournament announcer blared across the island. _**"The preliminary round of the Intergalactic Martial Arts Tournament will now begin! All fighters take your positions!"**_

"Oh. Guess that's our cue," Gohan chirped, stretching his arms out and shaking his hands to loosen them up. Watching the fighters on the ring spread out and find a space to start, the Super Saiyan then shot Videl one of his more charming smiles. "So, you wanna take these guys together or-?"

"I'll let you handle the meatheads on the right. I've got the group on the left," Videl interjected, cracking her knuckles before shooting her newfound friend a competitive smirk. "We can continue our talk later. After I've beaten my lot, I'm coming for you next, blondie."

Gohan smirked back at her when he sensed the challenging tone in her voice and responded in kind. "You sound so confident. Are you sure you'll be able to take them on all by yourself?"

"Of course," Videl retorted with a grin, "How about you?"

The teen chuckled, "Definitely."

After giving each other one last grin, the pair then spun around and stood back-to-back, assuming their respective fighting stances as their feet dug into the tiles. While Videl's fighting pose appeared Muay Thai based, Gohan's stance reflected the Hung Ga style, emphasizing solid leg positions and strong hands. The pair then waited with game faces on, counting down the seconds to the starting gun as the rest of the martial artists also readied themselves.

For a brief moment, the crowds went silent at the same time the clocks on all the monitors counted down from five.

Then, moments later, the starting horn sounded and a combined roar went up from every single person present as every single martial artist present sprang into action.

The fight was on!

XXX

All of _Battle Island_ erupted into a scene of utter chaos and excitement, as the men and women dominating the spectator stands watched the two hundred fighters clash with each other in a flurry of blows. Atop the eight separate platforms, every single competitor in sight engaged in an awesome display of fighting finesse, skill and strength, desperately wanting to secure a place in the quarterfinal rounds. At the same time the fighters made sure to stay as far away from the edges as possible, in order to avoid the hundred foot drop into the ocean.

As warriors battled and blows landed, the referee overseeing the matches screamed into his mic, giving up-to-date commentary on the events taking place on each of the platforms and reminding all those present the rules of the competition. They were no different from the traditional martial arts tournament guidelines; _fighters were disqualified if they fainted, surrendered, or fell into the sea. Killing was absolutely prohibited, as was the use of weapons. The last one left standing on each stage would automatically earn them a place in the next round._

After the first fifteen minutes flew by and the audience continued to egg the contestants on, dozens of fighters began to fall, as the strongest warriors began making their presences known. The crowds went wild as they watched the most skilled, powerful and agile fighters cut a path through the competition, knocking down body after body like pins in a bowling alley.

On one platform, a large anthropomorphic wolverine in a red gi was taking down fighters left and right and looked as though he was going to win it for his entire block. But almost immediately after dispatching two other fighters, the man suddenly found himself cornered on the edge, where he was promptly pushed off and thrown into the water. On a second platform not too far away, the massive sumo-wrestler Doskoi went head-to-head with his entire block, as every single man and woman there attempted to force the warrior into the sea. With a quick grab and a mighty toss, he was able to get rid of almost half the competition and sent all of them plummeting into the ocean below, which earned him an exclamation of delight from the audience.

It was pandemonium. All around fighters were having at it one-on-one, two-on-one, free for all, one-on-ten, and so on and so forth, all of them trying their very best to be the last ones left standing. Men and women were beating on each other without hesitation. At first things started off clumsy and chaotic, but as the fights went on the competitors started to find their paces.

As always the cameras and the news crews captured everything, ensuring none of the spectators on the island or across the world missed a single shot. The Cash family that was currently held up in the skybox were completely captivated by the spectacle, save for their son who was a little too preoccupied with chatting with Hercule Satan.

This meant that the Champ as well as little Monty completely missed the sight of the Z-fighters kicking complete and total ass on all the stages.

Having a ball in the madness of it all, the cheerful and obviously enthusiastic Krillin was cleaning house of his entire platform. Jumping from spot to spot in a blur as individual sections of his ring were constantly moving up and down, the short fighter made short work of the competition, knocking out opponents with only a handful of halfhearted blows. Hell, the man wasn't putting any effort behind his attacks, as it was made clear by the big smile on his face and the fact that he managed to send one of his targets flying off the block and into the ocean with a swift flick to his chest.

"And the crowd goes wild as rookie sensation Krillin from East City sinks his fifteenth shot!" the bald fighter laughed, turning towards one of the nearby roaming cameras and giving the spectators a thumbs-up. "That's Krillin with two Ls, by the way, and I like my paychecks to be hand-delivered to me by a pair of beautiful supermodels in swimsuits. Thank you." The Z-fighter then casually leant back, avoiding a punch from an opportunistic boxer and kicking the man into the sky.

All of a sudden, a loud cheer from the crowd drew Krillin's attention to the stands, where he saw the familiar form of Chi-Chi, dressed in her purple and yellow gi, standing on the railing and waving a pair of fans through the air.

"GO GOHAN! BEAT EM' ALL! YOU CAN DO IT!"

It was upon spotting his best friend's wife, Krillin's eagerness took an immediate nosedive. "Wha? Gohan's fighting?" He looked down at his hands in disbelief. "But he's a Super Saiyan? That's not fair!" Obviously he'd had no idea the strongest person on the face of the planet was competing today. And here he thought he had a straight shot to winning the hundred million zeni prize money.

Feeling the sensation of imminent and eventual defeat slowly creeping up on him, another battle cry from nearby drew Krillin's gaze to a different part of the island. Behind one of the obstructing towers, he saw the bodies of hapless martial artists being flung over the side and into the ocean, upon which he then sensed the powerful ki of their Namekian teammate at the center of the anomaly.

The realization had Krillin's face pale. "P-Piccolo too?" Gulping, the teary-eyed man then cracked a nervous smile. "Well at least Trunks isn't here." The sound of multiple bodies hitting the ground behind him had the martial artist spin around. Seeing a pile of unconscious contestants lying on the ground, the Z-fighter then looked up, where he saw the unmistakable form of Mirai Trunks, long lavender hair and blue vest flowing in the wind, looking over the side. The sight of the grinning Saiyan had Krillin deflate miserably. "Oh, me and my big mouth. This is now _officially_ unfair."

XXX

Elsewhere on the island, Gohan was having the time of his life. Darting across his platform at a relaxed and laidback pace, the young Super Saiyan was given ample opportunity to practice his control and fighting technique, as he dealt out the most generous beating that he could on the multitude of opponents in his general area. Normally he would've been able to take all of these guys out in one hit. However, this being a festive event where use of deadly force wasn't allowed and there wasn't anything life-threatening taking place, Gohan opted to use his match to get some worthwhile training in.

Hopping from one area of the ring to the other the teen struck down his targets with a cheerful smile on his face. From the way he was moving it almost looked as though he was floating, dancing across the ring in a superb display of fighting tact and form, his feet barely touching the tiles. While this was indeed true from a normal human perspective, in reality he wasn't doing anything other than using textbook fighting techniques.

Catching a kick from a man in a karate gi, Gohan held the man's ankle and swept his other leg out from under him, kicking the fighter off his feet and sending him bouncing across the ground. Almost immediately after dispatching the bald fighter he then darted towards a second martial artist in a yellow spandex suit and, avoiding a swift punch from the bulky warrior, elbowed him in the stomach. His attack sent the hapless man flying into two other people, bowling them over the edge and sending all three men into the water.

After hearing their simultaneous splashes seconds later, the grinning Gohan then turned his attention towards another part of the ring, where he stopped short at a rather bewildering sight.

Ducking under several big swings thrown by a large, bulky man in a Mexican wrestling uniform, the comparatively diminutive form of Videl rushed in at her opponent, hiking up his forward leg and torso before, with a sharp pivot and grab, kneed the man square in the face and sent him toppling to the floor. When his body hit the tiles with a dull thud, the tiny girl landed on top of him, before springing off of his chest when she was set upon by another man in a red singlet and trousers.

The muscular man with the military cut jabbed out at the girl with a series of swift punches, showing the prowess and agility of a boxer. But the instant he threw a kick in the midst of his assault, Videl simply checked his leg, sprang off of the ground, and nailed him with an overhand from above. Her fist cracked across the martial artist's face and knocked him out. When she landed and the fighter's body hit the deck, the grinning girl caught a punch being thrown at her from behind and, with a sharp tug, kicked the feet out from the judo practitioner and threw him across the ring.

"Wow," Gohan murmured, his expression showcasing nothing but amazement. _"She's good… better than good. Her technique is fantastic!"_

Not wanting to be outdone the Saiyan rushed towards another pair of fighters, tackling one with a swift elbow to the gut that knocked the guy off his feet. Ducking a punch from the other brawler, Gohan then leapt at him, struck him twice in the face with two finger-flicks before then poking him in the stomach and sending him tumbling across the ring. He then ducked a grab from a woman in black spandex from behind, caught her by the front of her top and chucked her into another fighter, knocking both of them to the floor.

He then moved right on to the next one, repeating the process over and over again…

XXX

While Tien was casually picking apart the competition on his block and Piccolo was in the process of wrapping things up on his end, across the island on another platform, one of the other Z-fighters had stopped to have a bit of a break. However, rather than having it down on the arena floor with the rest of the competition, this one had decided to take his up to the top of one of the nearby radio towers.

His gi clad form laid out on the surface of the giant transmitter, the noticeably miserable Yamcha breathed a heavy sigh of disappointment. "I can't believe Gohan and Trunks entered the tournament," the man sulked, his eyes fixated on the sky above. "One-hundred million beautiful zeni, gone."

He'd also found out that Piccolo, Tien and Krillin had entered the tournament as well. While he had no problems having to compete with his two human teammates, the Namekian was a completely different story. After all, he was part of what he referred to as Earth's power triangle; the top three strongest fighters currently on the planet. This wasn't even counting the time traveler from the future, who was just visiting the crew for the month.

Even so the human's position in the pecking order was made all too clear. So, instead of continuing on with what he now viewed as a pointless feud, the man simply kicked back with his hands behind his head and sighed.

"Oh well, it was a nice dream while it lasted," the man mumbled to himself. "Man. And I really wanted that new corvette…"

XXX

Seeing her ex-boyfriend lying on top of the nearby spire on the monitor drew a sympathetic smile from Bulma. "Poor Yamcha. He had so much energy before, but now he's completely lost his drive."

"The pressure of the competition must be overwhelming," Chi-Chi spoke, chancing a guess as to what must be getting under the scar-faced man's skin. A smile reflecting confidence formed on her lips as she crossed her arms and looked back out over the multiple battle stages. "After finding out the others are also fighting in this tournament, I'm not surprised he's decided to throw in the towel."

Feeling a sense of pride wash over her, Bulma gave a very haughty look. "True. How can anyone expect to beat Trunks?"

Hearing the woman's sly remark loud and clear, Chi-Chi got right up into her friend's face and glared, "Except Gohan!"

Sitting comfortably in his mother's arm, Baby Trunks quickly found himself caught in the middle of an epic stand-off, as Chi-Chi and Bulma began glaring daggers at one another. Menacing auras quickly surrounded the two women as they snarled at each other, obviously at odds over whose son was going to win this tournament. Clearly it wasn't just the Saiyan husbands who had the capacity to form rivalries with one another.

The crowd of spectators sitting around the two women became so caught up in their passive-aggressive motherly catfight that they completely missed the feed of the sumo wrestler Doskoi knocking one of his opponents into the spire Yamcha was lying on and sending the Z-fighter plummeting into the ocean.

The whistle quickly sounded the defeat of the former mercenary, but was chiefly ignored by the rest of the fighters up top as they continued their fray.

Cheers went up amongst the civilians as they watched Doskoi lay out his opponents with several well-placed palm strikes and pushes. When another group attempted to set upon him from behind, he simply pushed them over the edge of the arena and into the water. As soon as they went in, it looked as though the colossal warrior was well on his way to being the last man standing.

However, the large martial artist quickly spotted another fighter standing in the middle of his platform, surrounded by a dozen other bodies who'd all been beaten into unconsciousness. Turning his attention to them, the bulky, rotund fighter cracked his neck and set himself into a wide stance.

"You've done well to make it this far, little lady," Doskoi said in a deep, booming voice, seeing the blonde woman in the blue jeans, white shirt and vest stare back at him with her arms crossed. "But I'm afraid this is as far as you go. I apologize in advance." After grinding his feet into the floor, he then charged towards the woman with a mighty yell.

Moments later Doskoi's body collided with the lithe blonde with the force of a charging herd of elephants, a loud thud and a gust of wind blasting off of him from the impact. From the crowd's point of view it seemed like the wrestler had completely crushed his foe. But much to everyone's shock, including the challenger's, they saw he was being held back by his opponent; the mysterious blonde beauty effortlessly holding him at arm's length with her palm pressed flat up against his chest.

"What? B-But… how?" the man choked out in shock.

Her sharp, piercing blue eyes fixed upon the big man's face, the female then gave one, quick push and casually shoved her opponent away, sending Doskoi rolling across the platform and over the side.

When his body hit the waves with a towering splash, there was a moment of deathly silence, seconds before the crowd sitting in the stands gave a massive cheer of praise and excitement.

Flicking locks of golden hair over her shoulder, Android 18 breathed a bored sigh as she answered her opponent's question. "I'm just better." She then narrowed her eyes over her shoulder, as she sensed two more fighters step into view. Seeing they were a boxer and an MMA fighter, the young woman huffed in annoyance. "The prize money better be worth all this…"

XXX

A loud rumble and a collective cry of terror filled the air as an entire group of fighters on the lowest battle platform were piled together before unceremoniously being pushed into the sea. While the crowds cheered at the astonishing feat of strength, when the dust atop the platform settled, it revealed the human battle plow Son Gohan with his hands on his hips and a big grin on his face.

"That takes care of them," the blonde spoke, before the young Super Saiyan looked over his shoulder. "Twenty eight down… and only one more to go." His enthusiastic grin then fell upon Videl, whom he saw was holding an unconscious wrestler by the collar of his spandex as he lay on the ground with a busted nose and a swollen eye.

Her eyes also fixed on Gohan, the tomboy then released the man she was holding and cracked her knuckles, a determined look appearing on her face. "You actually beat them. Nice work."

"Ditto," the young Saiyan chirped, before quickly turning to her with a smirk. "So… did you save enough energy for me?"

Turning to face her adversary completely, Videl balled her fists and grinned, "Let's find out." Smile disappearing in an instant, the eleven year old fighter then dashed towards her final opponent with surprising speed, a cloud of dust kicking up behind her.

Balking at how fast the girl actually was, Gohan took a step back and quickly head-slipped a series of swift punches thrown at him by his opponent. When the girl fired off a right straight at him, the adolescent quickly caught her wrist and spun her, striking at her with a hook. Videl however ducked his half-hearted blow and leapt at him with a cartwheel kick, the maneuver causing Gohan to lean back and inadvertently allow the girl to twist out of his thumb.

The second she leapt away from her foe, Videl darted at him a second time, moving in a zigzag pattern to avoid the two punches Gohan thrust at her, before she came at him from below. When the Saiyan struck at her with a hook, the tomboy caught his fist and leapt over him, twisting and suspending her body over his till she was directly vertical to the Saiyan.

With her momentum she attempted to twist Gohan into a submissive position on her descent, but found to her shock that the young man's arm would not budge. She released him, allowing her to drop back down to the floor behind the teen and restart her attack. The moment Videl landed she sprang at the hybrid, only to catch a knee that he thrust towards her. Jumping off of it using her hands, the tomboy retaliated with a slicing elbow to his temple, which connected with Gohan's arm when he blocked it while simultaneously knocking her back.

Dodging two swift jabs and a palm strike from the boy, Videl slipped around him in a circle and, with a quick twirl, slammed a right roundhouse kick into his side. The girl balked when she saw the boy catch her leg and lock it up under his limb, prompting her to spring off the ground and jump at him, burying her knees into his chest. Locking her right arm around his neck, Videl then brought her left arm up and thrust an elbow down onto his head. But the blonde deflected her blow with his forearm, allowing Videl to free her leg from him and springboard off of his face, her feet instead slamming into his arms when he blocked.

Videl back flipped through the air and landed on the floor in a crouched position, huffing and shooting her opponent an excited smile.

Watching Videl assume a very cat-like crouch, the perfectly calm Gohan cracked a smile of his own. "Nice moves." He then raised an eyebrow at her. "Muay Thai and Judo?"

"With a little bit of Hapkido and gymnastics on the side," Videl replied, before then raising an eyebrow at the boy. "You're pretty full of surprises yourself, blondie. Xing Yi Quan and Changquan?"

"And Hung Ga," Gohan added with a smirk, sliding his foot out and bringing his hands up using wide, circular movements. "Personally I always preferred Northern Long Fist above everything else. It allows me more freedom of movement and flexibility."

"I bet it does," Videl chirped, before springing off of the floor and dashing at her opponent once again.

Switching to the smoother style of taijiquan, the still beaming Gohan began steadily backing away, allowing Videl to attack him with all her might. Using textbook kickboxing skills and attacks, the aggressive girl struck out at the Saiyan with a flurry of sharp punches and kicks. Despite her efforts, all of her blows either missed or were completely deflected as her opponent slipped and weaved between her shots. It was then Videl noticed as they were drawing closer and closer to the edge of the arena that her opponent was still smiling at her and looking as though he wasn't putting any effort into defending himself at all.

Watching the boy check a roundhouse kick, the frustrated Videl took a step back and shot a glare at the young teenager. "Come on. Are you taking this fight seriously at all? What's your deal?"

"Sorry," Gohan apologized, a smile still present on his face as he looked down at the winded tomboy. "It's just that if I was to use all my strength against you, I'd do more than just break a few bones. Trust me. I _am_ taking this seriously, but not too seriously." He then chuckled at the quizzical look Videl threw him. "You'll understand in a couple minutes."

Frowning, the raven haired fighter lowered her stance, "Cut the crap. If you're really so strong, then why don't you just beat me already?"

"If I did then I wouldn't be able to enjoy watching you fight," Gohan answered, his words causing Videl to recoil in surprise. "You have really amazing technique, Videl… the best I've seen from another fighter in a long time. I bet if you were a lot stronger and could do the same stuff that I could, you would be even more amazing."

Feeling her face heat up slightly at the boy's compliments towards her form, the girl then gritted her teeth and leapt at him aggressively. "Just shut up and fight me!" She then lunged in with a punch, only to let out a shriek when Gohan suddenly caught her arm and flung her over the edge. She screamed as she plummeted towards the ocean, quickly realizing as she fell that this was the end and shut her eyes for the inevitable splash.

But just when it seemed like she was going to hit the water, Videl suddenly felt someone grab her hand and stop her fall, causing her to blink and look up. When she did, she saw Gohan floating above her, holding her by the hand with a bright smile in play. It was one he reserved solely for his gutsy opponent.

"Perhaps another time," the Saiyan said.

Confused at seeing the boy hovering over her, Videl quickly turned her gaze downwards. It was then when she saw the ocean waves crashing against the island walls and boats beneath her that the girl realized that she was floating, causing her to gasp in disbelief and look up at the boy who was holding her with a start.

"G-Gohan. You're… flying!" Videl exclaimed, unable to hide her amazement.

Grinning, the demi-Saiyan slowly maneuvered both of them over to one of the walkways below, where he then began a slow descent. "You were right about one thing, Videl; I _am_ full of surprises. When you come from a family like mine and know the people that I do, you tend to pick up a few things."

It was then as she was staring up at the child that flashbacks of a very familiar event flickered through her head, as Videl's brain began replaying the memories of the time she watched the Cell Games at her home. She remembered the strange group of fighters that'd showed up, the man that'd fought the monster after her father, and the "tricks" and "illusions" they displayed when they clashed in a battle that shook the very planet itself. It was then she remembered the one other person that was there; the boy around her age with striking green eyes and blond hair.

That moment she realized…

"Y-You're him," Videl whispered, her eyes shimmering in amazement as she felt the wind rush past them as they floated down from the sky. "You're… the boy who fought Cell."

Gohan nodded and, as he gently set Videl on the walkway, spoke his next words softly to her. "I really meant what I said to you… that you're an awesome fighter. If it's okay with you, Videl, I'd really like to meet up again after the tournament. Unless you've got something else planned."

Her eyes not leaving Gohan's for a second, taking in both his handsome smile and the way his eyes were gazing intently at her, Videl was unable to keep the heat from rushing to her cheeks as she swallowed nervously and gave the blonde a warm smile of her own. "Sure. I'd like that, Gohan-kun."

Nodding, the young warrior let the girl's fingers slip from his hand and he floated back up to his arena. "Thanks for a great fight, Videl." With that said and done, the young Super Saiyan then returned to his platform under the astonished looks of Videl and the entire stadium.

As the daughter of the Champ watched her newfound friend return to their block, she vaguely overheard the observing referee's whistle blow, telling her that she was 'out of bounds' and that she'd been 'disqualified'. She didn't care however, because as far as she was concerned she'd just met the nicest, most incredible boy in the whole world.

For some reason she could feel her heart racing and her head pulsing, but she chose to disperse all thoughts on the strange sensations and, retreating from the walkway of stunned onlookers, quickly began making her way up to the spectator stands to watch the rest of the fights.

" _There's no way I'm going to miss this,"_ Videl thought excitedly as she sprinted up the stairs and into the island.

" _ **Son Gohan is the first to pass the preliminaries and will be advancing into the quarter finals!"**_

XXX

As cheers echoed throughout the stadium at the first victor for the day, not long afterwards a second announcement was made, which was heard all across the stands and shoreline, including the Cash family skybox.

" _ **And pulling into second place from Block C, Trunks advances!"**_

For the wealthy family and proprietors of this prestigious event, they regarded the first two winners with awe and interest. Including the sight of young Gohan winning his round with a gentlemanly gesture to the Champ's daughter of all people, it'd been stellar performances all around. The family as well as the tournament officials and promoters couldn't have hoped for any better.

As for the great Hercule Satan however, his reaction was a mixture of abject shock and horror. Having initially dropped his fork in incredulity at seeing his daughter lose, it was the way that she'd been beaten that filled his heart with dread as he was now staring up at the projection of Son Gohan and Trunks in utter bewilderment. Swallowing the spaghetti in his mouth so that he didn't choke, the wide-eyed champion of the world shook his head in disbelief.

"Th-This… can't be…" the afro fighter whispered, his eyes panning towards another monitor on the other side of the viewing area.

There he saw one of the moving platforms tilt and dump all of its contestants into the ocean, save for one other person. Managing to hang on through a combination of strength, luck, and grit, when the stage eventually returned to normal equilibrium, a stunned and relieved Krillin gave a victorious grin toward the surrounding cameras, as he was officially announced as the last man standing on his block.

" _ **Contestant Krillin has made it through to the quarter finals!"**_

" _It… It's them… the ones from the Cell Games!"_ Hercule thought, a river of sweat beginning to pour down his face as he backed into his chair before standing. Despite nearly knocking it over, not a single person in that sky box seemed to take notice of the terrified look on his face. Not even Cash's son, who was currently preoccupied with his food. _"Wh-Why in the world are they here?"_

Did they want revenge from him for stealing their spotlight? Were they after his title? Were they aiming to discredit him in the tournament and show the world that he was a fraud? Hundreds of these questions began flying through the man's head a mile a minute, sending a cold chill throughout his body and causing his face to pale. During which time, another victor was announced to the stadium.

" _ **And Piccolo is headed for the next round as well!"**_

The sight of the fearsome Namekian had the trembling Hercule clamp his hand over his mouth in horror and turn away to bite his hand. Once again his actions went conveniently unnoticed by the people in the skybox as the poor man whimpered pathetically to himself.

"This is… some kind of horrible dream. A nightmare. It has to be. There's no other explanation."

Almost on cue, two more names were thrown up onto the board. _**"Tien Shinhan and Ms Eighteen have also made the cut! What a stunning turn of events!"**_

XXX

The preliminary matchups were quickly wrapped up as the last of the advancers were decided shortly thereafter. As soon as their battles came to an end, the quarter finalists were then escorted down to the lowest platform on _Battle Island_ , where every single camera and spectator were directed to capture the coming round. Gathering in the fighter's waiting area, the Z-fighters quickly did a head-count on who'd made it and who hadn't.

While Tien stood off to the side with Piccolo, lamenting on the fact that his friend Yamcha had been knocked out in the first round yet again, they along with Krillin couldn't help but notice Android 18 was also standing amongst them, not looking particularly interested in anything.

Arms folded and completely oblivious to the attention she was receiving from a lot of the men around her, all of whom found her appearance absolutely enchanting, a nervous Krillin gulped and slowly approached the blonde. When he stopped beside her, he saw the female's gaze turn to him.

"H-Hey there, Eighteen," Krillin greeted, rubbing the back of his head anxiously as he looked up at the beautiful android. "Long time no see. How are you?"

Expression remaining mostly unchanged, the woman turned away with a grunt, "Fine, I guess."

"Man. I didn't expect to see you competing today. I suppose you're here for the prize money like the rest of us, huh?" the man asked.

In response Android 18 shrugged, "Sort of. I saw this competition on the news a few days ago and figured I should come by to check it out… see what it's like." She then flicked some hair back over her shoulder. "It's not like I really had anything better to do."

"Well… it's always nice to get out in the world and have a walk around… or in our case fly," Krillin remarked with a bit of a laugh. "Considering who else is here today, I doubt I'll be able to get very far in this competition. The best I can hope to do against these guys is flail about uselessly. But I'm sure you'll get through to the finals no problem."

Feeling her cheeks heat up a little, the blonde woman casually shrugged off his compliment as if it were a regular thing. "Yeah. Duh."

Feeling happy to hear the woman was at least bantering with him, the bald fighter then gave her a pleasant grin, "You're looking great by the way." His sincere comment earned a look from Eighteen, followed shortly by a warm smile.

"Thanks."

While Gohan watched his father's best friend conversing with the stunning android, he then noticed the monitor nearby flicker into life and a list of all the advancing contestants appear on screen. Moments later the monitor showed an image of all the quarter finalist's pictures and profiles arranged into a tally, showing everyone around the world who would be fighting who in the rounds to come.

" _ **Thank you for waiting, ladies and gentlemen! The match ups for the eight quarter finalists have now been decided! In the first round we have young Son Gohan versus the mighty Udo! Second matchup is between rookie sensation Trunks and former martial arts champion Tien Shinhan! After that, Piccolo and Krillin will battle against one another in the third round, while in the fourth we have Ms Eighteen and Sky Dragon competing for the final spot! I'm sure we're in for some amazing performances from these fierce warriors!"**_

As the crowds began clamoring with excitement and making bets with the officials as to who would be advancing into the next rounds, a previously at ease Krillin gaped in disbelief.

"What? I'm fighting Piccolo?" The man then groaned and visibly let his shoulders drop. "If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any." His remarks earned an amused smile from Android 18.

When the man looked across at where Piccolo was standing, he saw the Namekian shoot him a smirk. This only served to increase the bald fighter's misery.

With their names and profiles announced the referee then called up the first two contestants, Gohan and Udo casually making their way onto the stage. The crowds cheered and applauded encouragingly when the pair stepped out onto the circular platform. But as soon as the people saw the two martial artists stand against one another, all the cries of celebration quickly dispersed.

The man Gohan was set to fight against was a giant of a warrior; a burly wrestler with an enormous stature, heavy jaw, blonde hair and bushy mustache. Wearing a pair of blue fighting boots and a red speedo, the very western martial artist practically towered over his younger, smaller opponent, looking like he could beat anyone simply by stepping on them. Needless to say it was a pretty grim situation.

Despite facing off against such an imposing and menacing foe, Gohan didn't appear fazed in the slightest and simply stared back at the yellow-haired man.

Videl meanwhile, having found a spot up on one of the baloneys above, hung over the side and called out in support of her blond friend. "Go Gohan! Don't hurt him too badly!" Her confidence in him was high. After fighting with him head to head, she knew that he was more than capable of dealing with this brute.

Clearing his throat, the supervising referee yelled into the mic, _**"Contestants take your stances!"**_

Raising an eyebrow at the child standing in his shadow, the thoroughly disappointed Udo huffed, "Huh. I'm fighting a baby? This has got to be some kind of joke." Making a note to see his agent later onwards, the man then placed his hands on his hips and leered at his opponent intimidatingly. "Hey, listen kid, I'm not too keen on beating on children. However, since I'm a man of good sport, I'll be more than happy to dance around for a bit and give you a couple of free shots. How does that sound?"

Gohan chuckled at the man's offer, "You don't have to pull any punches against me, sir. Believe me, I can take them." Placing his fist into his open palm, he then bowed respectfully to the martial artist. "Let's have a good fight."

A tick-mark formed on Udo's forehead as he felt like he was being messed with. "Heh. You've got a lot of guts kid… and I'm gonna show them to yah!" The second the bell went, the man leaned down for a grab.

The second he saw his foe move, Gohan acted. Casually darting forward in a blur, Gohan lazily swept the man's feet out from under him, sending the poor wrestler flying off of the platform. Like a cannon-ball, the stunned Udo let out a cry of fright as he was propelled from the ring, crashing through a solid wall of rock and a spectator stand before his body went soaring over the ocean and into the distance.

The splash he made several seconds later could be seen about two kilometers away.

The entire island sat in stunned silence, while Chi-Chi sprang from her seat and jabbed her fist into the air, "Boo-yah! That's my son! Woo!"

Elsewhere, Videl, at first appearing dumbfounded from the blonde's decisive win, then clenched her fists and raised them in the air triumphantly, "Yes! That was awesome, Gohan!" Damn. She figured the kid was strong. She didn't realize he was THAT strong. _"Wow. He's amazing."_

XXX

Upon making a literal impression in the audience and on the island itself in the shape of a large, Udo-shaped hole, Gohan happily vacated the ring and high-fived Trunks on the way back into the waiting room. This cleared the way for the next two contestants called onto the stage moments later by the referee, who needed to take a moment to process what had just happened in the first match.

" _ **N-Next we have Trunks and Tien Shinhan! Fighters, please take your positions!"**_ the man shouted, a little too late as both martial artists were already out on the platform and warming themselves up.

Watching on a television in the food court inside the island, an intently listening Chiaotzu, Oolong and Puar waited with anticipation as their next pair of teammates readied themselves for their match. Looking at the way they were stretching and facing off against one another, they were more than eager to get this fight underway.

"Yeah! Go Tien," the little mime fighter spoke as he sat at his table with drink in hand.

Chewing loudly on a kebab, the bored looking pig in the Hawaiian top waved his stick in the air flippantly, "Though it's obvious who's going to win, it's always good to stay positive."

"Oh, don't be such a killjoy, Oolong," the floating cat Puar chirped as she hovered around her pig friend's seat.

Master Roshi meanwhile, not really paying attention to the competition, was trying to hit on some young girls gathered at the table nearby. Unfortunately as he was trying to put the usual old man moves on them by asking what kind of swimsuits they wore, he was quickly chased away by a pepper spray, which had him running to the bathroom to wash his eyes out.

Back out on the arena, the two Z-fighters had finished preparations. Knowing that this was where the real battle was about to begin, Tien promptly removed his white shirt and tossed it away, revealing his scarred, muscular body to his foe. After a few more deep breaths and shoulder rolls, the three-eyed fighter smiled at his opponent.

"Hey, Trunks. Whaddaya say we give these people a good show?"

In response, the lavender haired warrior from the future nodded, "Sure. Whenever you're ready."

Under the cheers and exclamations of the crowd, the starting horn blared. The moment it did, both Trunks and Tien vanished into two fast-moving blurs, which bounded up the island from platform to platform before intercepting one another in the sky above. The moment the two fighters collided, shockwaves rang out as the pair engaged one another in a furious dogfight of lightning fast blows and parries.

Darting through the sky faster than the human eye could see, Tien and Trunks traded attacks in a superb display of aerial combat, trading and deflecting attacks one after the other. Crisscrossing one another multiple times in an attempt to catch the other off guard, the half-Saiyan suddenly spun at Tien with a kick, forcing the human to dodge and slip behind the warrior.

Seeing an opening, Tien rushed in with a blur of palm strikes and kicks, only to watch Trunks slip between his blows before countering with a spin kick from the side. The lightning fast blow connected with the triclops's chest, causing a sonic boom to ring out and sending the human plummeting towards the ocean. But just before Tien could hit the water, the man corrected himself mid-fall and swiftly regained altitude, tearing a trench across the surface of the water before shooting back up into the air.

XXX

Up in Cash's skybox, which had attached itself to one of the island's walls, the family and reporters inside looked on in astonishment as the contestants on screen disappeared from the arena's surface and reappeared in the sky above the island. It was here the specially designed cameras from Capsule Corp did their best to track the fighters as they became locked in a furious fist fight above the landmass.

The crowds were stunned, as was X.S Cash, Lotta and their son Monty.

"Th-They're fighting in midair," the husband remarked in disbelief. Though he was unable to understand what the heck was going on, all he knew was that it was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen.

Appearing nervous as well, Lotta turned to her husband inquisitively. "Honey, are you sure they're not using wires?" Her question was promptly silenced when a shockwave from the two Z-fighters went off close to their sky box and rattled the balcony, drawing startled yelps from all the family members present.

More sonic booms lit up the sky over the island as both Tien and Trunks chased each other and clashed between the structures, neither one wanting to lose ground. While they were careful to keep all of their attacks away from the audience, they certainly weren't going easy on their opponents either and were determined to knock the other person out of the competition.

Alarmed at the startling turn of events, the reporter Charlotte, who was sharing the skybox along with a couple other crews, approached a nervous-looking Hercule Satan and held the mic out to him. Having the device unexpectedly shoved into his face drew a startled cry from the man.

"Mr. Satan. Can you please comment on these extraordinary events?" the brown haired reporter asked as calmly as she could. "How are these two men able to defy the laws of gravity and battle one another above the island?"

Initially unable to form a response, the Champ quickly shook himself out of his reverie and barked out an answer, "It's a simple parlor trick! You just make a quick change with smoke and mirrors and what-GAAAAH!" The man was promptly cut-off from his explanatory tirade when another explosion went off right above them, shaking the viewing area and knocking everyone to the ground.

The moment Hercule face-planted the floor, he let out a light whimper of disbelief. "Why… out of all the tournaments… out of all the competitions in the world did they have to enter mine? I hate this…" the Champ whispered, inadvertently parody-quoting _Casablanca_ at the same time.

XXX

More shockwaves tore through the sky as Tien and Trunks doggedly traded shots between the stands and towers. After blocking a simultaneous hook and knee from his Saiyan opponent, the three-eyed warrior countered him with a swift kick to the stomach and shot up into the sky. Sensing his opponent was in hot pursuit, the senior Z-fighter quickly positioned himself high above the landmass and, pressing his fingers and thumbs together, formed a diamond-shape crosshair with his hands.

Taking aim with it, Tien quickly centered his opponent in the space between his palms, focusing his energy and zooming in on his quarry. As soon as he was ready, the man shouted at the top of his lungs. _**"KI-KO-HOOOOOOOOO!"**_ A flash of orange light then filled the sky as a perfectly square blast shot from his grip, rocketing towards his foe and colliding with the young man head on.

A sphere-shaped explosion of orange fire filled the sky as the landmass was rocked by its shockwaves, knocking people out of their seats and causing massive waves to ripple across the ocean. The people on the boats below had to hang on for dear life as the gales of wind generated by the blast nearly capsized them, with the people in the bleachers giving a unified cry of fright.

Ignoring the explosion and the debris cascading around them, Tien and Trunks engaged one another a third time. The pair charged and collided with their opponent in the air, trading simultaneous blows before the human fighter managed to nail a hook across his opponent's face. The blow sent both warriors flying back from one another, where they quickly found themselves floating just a few feet above the ocean.

As waves from the previous sonic blast crashed around them and sent water spraying into the air, under the 'oos' and 'aahs' of the audience, the two warriors smirked at each other.

Tien's expression then became one of seriousness. _"He's still holding back a great deal of his strength. Well… if he wants to win this, he's going to have to work for it."_ Clenching his fists, the man let out a yell and powered up, his white aura exploding around him in a white arc of transparent fire. Concentrating even more, the human warrior let out another yell of pain as a second pair of arms suddenly shot out from his shoulders, signaling his use of his _**Four Witches Technique**_.

The shocked look that appeared on Trunks's face gave Tien the opening he needed to rush forward and throw a right straight at the Saiyan with his two arms. His fists slammed into the wall and smashed a massive chunk out of the concrete when the half-Saiyan shot up into the sky to avoid his blow and gain some distance.

When he stopped several stories above his opponent, Trunks threw his arms and legs out and, with a yell of effort, also powered up. A golden aura burst out of him like wild fire as his hair spiked up and flashed blond, his eyes also turning green. The spectators, completely overwhelmed by the spectacle, gave a loud cheer of excitement, encouraging the warriors to show them more.

XXX

(Meanwhile)

(Capsule Corp – West City)

Lying across his bed in the room provided for him at the renowned industrial super-giant's headquarters, the Prince of all Saiyans, Vegeta, adorned in his signature battle armor and spandex, was currently watching the live-feed of the _Intergalactic Martial Arts Tournament_ taking place on the other side of the globe.

After initially flipping through random channels to see what was on, the man quickly settled on the sports broadcast and, with a look of utter displeasure, proceeded to watch with mixed-interest as the Z-fighters, sans Yamcha and Chiaotzu, went on to dominate the tournament's preliminary rounds.

It seemed like things were off to good start moving into the quarter finals. But after seeing Trunks transform against Tien and start fighting him for a second bout, Vegeta quickly grew bored and, picking up the remote, switched off the television.

"Hmph. What a joke," the man scoffed, before lying back on his bed with his hands behind his head.

Fighting, particularly the little circus their group was currently attending on another part of the planet, didn't interest him in the least. So, deciding to take a nap, the man shut his eyes and drifted out, completely ignoring the television and his time-traveling son's sword gleaming in the corner.

XXX

(Back on Battle Island)

"Well… Tien's had it," Krillin murmured, arms folded as he leant back against the guard rail of the viewing area and watched the battle between their two friends carry on overhead. As shockwaves and explosions once again filled the sky, the human fighter sighed. "Now that Trunks has transformed, it's only a matter of time before the poor guy gets tagged. There's just no stopping a Super Saiyan."

"I don't know," Android 18 said with a slightly more interested look as she watched Tien dart around his golden opponent. "I think I've had a fairly successful track record."

This earned a laugh from Krillin as he looked back up at the woman with a smile, "True. If it comes down to it, you have a pretty good chance of taking him on yourself." Sniffing, the man then looked back towards the clouds, where he saw Trunks dodge a series of _**Dodon**_ bullets being fired at him from his four-armed foe. "For us normal guys though, facing off against a Super Saiyan, a Super Namek… or anything else with Super in its name is suicide."

"Ah, don't be like that, Krillin," Gohan spoke up, looking across at his friend from where he was standing next to Piccolo, who was keeping a close eye on the battle above. "Even though Trunks has the advantage in speed and power, Tien can still win this fight if he just knocks him into the water."

Krillin scoffed and glanced back out into the open, "That's easier said than done, man."

Watching Tien suspend himself in the sky after an epic shootout with his opponent, the man snapped all four of his hands to form two diamonds, one in front of the other, over his chest. Once again taking aim at his Super Saiyan foe through the crosshairs, the man's white aura blasted around him and, with a mighty bellow, unleashed another _**Kikoho**_ towards his foe. His orange, square-shaped blast gushed from his hands and rocketed towards Trunks, who was seemingly swallowed up by the head of the attack as it shot off into the horizon.

From satellite orbit, you could clearly see Tien's blast streak across the planet's surface and out into space, leaving an orange trail of energy in its wake.

For a second it looked as though the human had disintegrated his opponent. But when the blinding light and smoke from his awesome attack faded, the entire crowd winced when Trunks suddenly materialized behind Tien and smashed the three-eyed fighter straight into the water.

When the splash and waves from the man's impact with the ocean settled, a cheer went up and the referee announced the winner, _**"After a fierce and explosive battle, Trunks emerges victorious!"**_

"Oh well. Guess it's my turn," Krillin sighed, before turning to Android 18 and giving her a lopsided smile. "Wish me luck?"

In response, the blonde woman smiled back at the short warrior, "Good luck."

Feeling his spirit lift somewhat, Krillin then turned to head out, but not before giving Gohan a firm pat on the shoulder. "If I don't see you in the next few minutes, go check the emergency room or the far wall. There's a pretty good chance I'm going to end up in one of those two places." This earned a puzzled look from the young Super Saiyan, who watched his friend trudge out onto the platform with his head hung.

After Trunks helped an exhausted Tien out of the water, the audience then turned their attention to the next pair of fighters, the announcer being sure to inform the island of the coming round. _**"The third match is about to begin as Piccolo and Krillin square off in the center platform!"**_ The crowds clamored excitedly when they saw the two strange warriors march into the open, anticipating another epic match.

Looking as nervous as ever, Krillin gulped as he saw his Namekian opponent stand across from him on the ring, his shoulder turned, eyes closed and arms crossed. _"Okay. Krillin, my man. You can do this. You can do this. You know this guy. He is_ _ **not**_ _unbeatable."_ His expression then became one of complete dread. _"Well unless he uses his Special Beam Cannon, then I'm dead."_ For a moment he completely forgot that this was a competition where killing was strictly forbidden.

" _ **Challengers get ready!"**_

Shaking his head, the bald fighter did his best to rid himself of all anxiety and quickly set himself into a stance. _"I may not be able to beat him. But if I'm going down, I might as well go in style."_ He then spared a look back at the viewing balcony, where he not only saw Gohan standing there and watching excitedly, but Android 18 as well. Feeling his heart skip at seeing the woman, her radiant golden locks framing her angelic face, the man's expression then changed from one of nervousness to determination. Smile forming, he gave the android a thumbs-up, causing Eighteen to blink in surprise before he spun around to face his opponent. "Yeah. In style!" When the bell rang out, Krillin crouched low and took off, letting out a loud battle cry as he charged straight at his opponent.

Piccolo however, his eyes remaining shut, heard his attacker approaching at full speed. When Krillin lunged in with a punch, the Namekian simply took a step back and let the fighter fly past him. Stumbling when he missed, the monk suddenly tripped over his own feet when he hit the brakes, slammed into the ground and slid across the platform on his own face.

The crowd laughed when they saw Krillin stop with his bottom half sticking in the air, whereas Gohan, Trunks and Tien cringed, as that maneuver must have hurt like hell. Eighteen on the other hand simply giggled, watching as the short fighter pulled his face out of the tiles and spat out random bits of debris, his face reflecting several noticeable scuff marks.

"Okay. I mistimed that," Krillin mumbled, before leaping back up and rushing right at Piccolo, jumping at the green warrior with spinning hook kick. "Take this!"

The kick struck the Namekian's arm when Piccolo reached up to block, upon which he then grabbed the human's ankle and shoved him off, causing the bald fighter to let out a yelp as his body fell out of the air and slammed into the ground a second time. Groaning, Krillin back flipped and landed on his feet several yards away, thrusting his hands towards the Namekian and firing off a ki blast.

Using his same arm to block, Piccolo knocked the blast back at Krillin, who let out a scream and dove out of the way, his attack hitting the ocean and causing a large explosion. Rolling along the floor, the man held up both hands again and unleashed five more blasts in rapid succession. "Ya! Ya! Ya! Ya! YAA!" Once again Piccolo casually slapped them aside with both hands, before pointing his own hand at Krillin and firing off an orange blast of his own.

Freaking out, Krillin quickly pulled off a matrix and bent backwards, barely avoiding the blast that streaked over him and took a chunk out of the surrounding island. Breathing a sigh of relief, he then shot back up, dropped to his knees and fired another blast at Piccolo, only this time he aimed for the man's feet. His attack struck the ground and kicked up a cloud of smoke and dust, which had the Namekian raise an eyebrow when his sight was completely blocked.

After performing a swift backhand to clear the air with a gust of wind, Piccolo saw that his opponent was gone, only to then hear the sound of a yell seconds later.

"HAAAAA! SNEAK ATTACK!" Krillin shouted as he lunged at his opponent from behind with a punch.

Unfortunately for the monk the tall Namekian heard him and simply stepped out of the way, causing the short Z-fighter to fly past him a second time. Thanks to the man's cape getting in the way, Krillin flew right into its folds and ended up clotheslining himself, a split second before barreling over the edge of the cliff. Screaming as he fell, Krillin started flapping his arms and legs in panic to regain altitude.

Floating back up to the arena's level, Krillin suddenly felt the back of his gi grabbed from behind and his body tossed back onto the ring. Landing with a heavy thump, the short fighter looked up to see Piccolo glaring down at him.

"Are you going to take this fight seriously… or are you just gonna keep messing around?" When all he received from Krillin was a confused blink and a mumble, the Namekian grunted and turned around. "Figures. This is just a big waste of my time. I'm out." With a swish of his cape, Piccolo leapt off the platform and took flight, his form shooting up into the sky and disappearing into the distance a split second later.

For a moment nobody knew what was happening. But after seeing the green fighter vanish into the clouds, the main referee hopped onto the platform and pointed towards the victor. _**"Piccolo has forfeited the match! Krillin wins by default!"**_

As cheers and applause rained down upon the arena several moments after the announcement, a bewildered Krillin let out a relieved chuckle, "Oh. I won. Heh. That's a surprise."

After watching his mentor and best friend fly off, Gohan then glanced to his left when he heard the soft, cool voice of Android 18 speak up.

"He's pretty cool."

The demi-Saiyan blinked at the beautiful blonde for her unexpected remark, "Who? Piccolo?"

"Krillin," Android 18 replied, a fond smile on her face as she watched the bald fighter stand up and wave to the crowds victoriously.

Gohan was at first confused by why the woman had said that. But after seeing her gaze focused solely on Krillin and his brain quickly figuring out that her comment was meant for the human fighter, the young Super Saiyan allowed a warm smile to cross his lips and turned back to face the arena.

" _ **Last but not least, we have Ms Eighteen vs Sky Dragon!"**_

XXX

(Sometime later)

Nobody ended up missing out on much in the fourth round. Following the rather hilarious performance by Krillin against the intimidating force that was Piccolo, Android 18 ended up winning her fight by carelessly flicking her opponent off the platform and into the water. This in turn pulled the curtain over the quarter final rounds and led them straight into the semis.

The referees announced that the competition would be moving on to its second stage right away and instructed all the spectators and fighters to remain where they were, as they were now taking the tournament to their next venue. This soon led to the tiny _Battle Island_ disconnecting from the mainland and beginning a straight trek out into the ocean.

While this wasn't at all normal by any stretch of the imagination, it turns out that the first _Battle Island_ arena that the fighters and audience were on wasn't a fixed landmass at all. It was in fact a massive ocean vessel that was designed to not only host the first rounds of the intergalactic tournament, but to also transport all the contestants and paying customers to the next grand stage on _Battle Island II_. This atoll, with two enormous, dormant volcanoes making up its topography, with a stadium wedged in the center of the largest edifice, would serve as the grounds for the final part of this impressive event.

Those that'd partaken in the festivities on the first platform would get front row seats to the events on the second. The journey up to the stadium from the city on the shore wasn't long by any stretch of the imagination, as a fleet of trams and buses helped the spectators reach their destination from the shoreline.

Everyone was keen to get the next stage underway, all except for Mr. Satan, as X.S Cash's assistant actually ended up catching the Champ attempting to jump ship while the island was in motion. After being personally escorted to _Battle Island II_ by the tournament staff, the martial arts champion retired to the nearest bathroom after coming down with some sort of chronic and "life-threatening" stomach ache. Not knowing what to do, the tournament assistants would up leaving the man to his devices.

Once all the spectators had been filed into the massive dome and directed to their seats, the staff helped to escort the four challengers to their room directly beneath the arena itself. It was here in this lavish and stately waiting area that the finalists were able to rest-up, eat, drink, mingle, and get in a few last minute stretches before they were required to report to their assigned elevators.

' _Wait here until we call for you,'_ the staff member said before vacating the premises, leaving the four warriors to their own devices.

The group of fighters made themselves comfortable, with Trunks leaning against the wall, Krillin fighting a spot sitting next to Android 18, and Gohan, eager and energetic as always, wandering about the living room and enjoying the snacks they had on the nearby table. Considering he was in Super Saiyan mode, his metabolism was working on a much higher gear and needed to be sated. Even with the pressure of the tournament, he was still able to dine and walk around with a skip in his step.

Noticing the bright smile on the young Saiyan's face brought one to the observing Trunks's.

"You sure seem keen," Mirai chuckled.

Gohan nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yeah. Very. This is the first martial arts tournament I've ever competed in and I actually made it into the top four on my first try."

"And in such a huge event too," the man continued with a nod to the abovementioned proceedings.

Finishing the sushi he had on him, Gohan set his plate down and wiped his mouth with a napkin. "What about you, Trunks? Is this your first tournament?"

"Yeah. Thanks to all the chaos and havoc the androids caused back in my time, the _World Martial Arts Tournament_ was shut down for good, and all available resources that went into hosting the event went to providing aid and support to the rest of the world," Trunks replied, folding his arms as he conversed with his fellow Super Saiyan hybrid. "Now that they're gone, we can finally start rebuilding our cities and our lives."

"You and the people on your Earth deserve peace," Gohan said, giving the man an encouraging smile. "The battles you and the others have fought are all over now… and now you'll finally be able to move on. Make the most of your life and protect your loved ones."

A warmth filled the man's heart at hearing the words from the boy who would eventually grow up to become his mentor. "Thank you, Gohan," Trunks replied, his eyes shimmering with a series of positive emotions. Sharing a moment of silence with the strongest warrior on the planet, the time traveler then turned his attention toward Android 18 and Krillin, his eyes fixating on the former and narrowing suspiciously.

Also noticing the pair conversing on the corner couch, Gohan looked across at them and observed their conversation in silence, noticing the short fighter giving compliments to Eighteen, with his jokes and lines earning a series of smiles and giggles in return. Though it wasn't the most unusual sight for the younger of the two Saiyans, it certainly was for the warrior from the future.

Expression firm, Trunks breathed a heavy sigh, "I never knew an android could smile like that." Or laugh like that either. All the emotions that she was expressing in front of Krillin felt so real and genuine, and carried a warmth that the Saiyan had never sensed before. It was slightly disconcerting if he was being honest, but not at all unpleasant.

Gohan shrugged, "It's like you said… times change. She's not like the Android 18 that you knew from your future, so there's no reason for you to think she will turn out the same way."

"Maybe," Trunks replied hesitantly, before forming a small smile. "But… as long as you guys are okay with it, I'm willing to give this a chance." Hell, it wouldn't be the first time he was surprised.

He could actually see something good growing from this, especially since both Krillin and Eighteen were so preoccupied with talking with each other that they had no idea they were being watched. It was funny and cute at the same time.

Not wanting to disturb them, Trunks and Gohan decided to stick to their conversation, with the former glancing back down at his friend with a pleasant smile.

"So I hear you're taking up training full-time now, huh?" Trunks said, earning a firm nod from the younger warrior. "And you're going to study on your own terms?"

"Uh-huh. It's the deal that I was able to cut with my mum earlier this month," the blond informed, obviously pleased with what he was able to accomplish.

"Cool. Any plans on what you're going to do later on when you're older?"

Gohan took a moment to rub his chin thoughtfully, "I was actually thinking of going into medicine and bioengineering. Become a doctor with two degrees."

"Oh. So you're going to be _Doctor_ Gohan then," Trunks remarked, testing the name out on his tongue.

"That's right. And since I'm also going to be a fighter that means I'll be able to break every bone in your body _while_ naming them," the Saiyan stated mischievously.

The way Gohan said that had a chill run up Trunks's spine. "Now there's a scary thought. And you're already the strongest man on the planet."

"Who's going to become even stronger," the teen chirped, adjusting one of the weight bands around his wrist before resting his hands on his hips. "But in case nothing else happens and no more bad guys show up, at least I'll have something worthwhile to fall back on. Even though I don't plan on stopping training, as long as my mum is happy, then I'm happy too."

Nodding in understanding, Trunks then spared a thought back to another subject of interest. "Speaking of mothers, I wonder what ours are doing right about now," the lavender haired fighter chuckled. "Wanna bet that they're arguing with each other over who out of the four of us is going to win this tournament?"

"You mean out of the _two_ of us," the Super Saiyan hybrid interjected. "Let's be honest, knowing who they are, they're definitely counting on one of us making it to the end."

"I hope you're not planning on going easy on me," Trunks commented, throwing the younger warrior a competitive smirk. He then shrugged at the look he received in return. "Everyone here came out to watch a fight, so we might as well give them one."

"First to the finish then?" Gohan asked, holding his hand out to his fellow hybrid.

"Sure," Trunks responded, extending his hand and grasping his friend's in a firm handshake.

When they separated, they then went about talking about other topics, particularly the news and anything else related to today's event. As the pair bantered, and Krillin and Eighteen continued conversing with one another in the background, Gohan couldn't help but spare a thought to one other person at this tournament, who he was pretty sure was waiting for him up in the spectator stands.

" _I hope Videl is out there watching,"_ the boy thought with a fond smile.

XXX

(Sometime later)

" _ **The stage has been set for the finals on Battle Island 2; where our four remaining warriors will now compete for the coveted spot in the showdown with Mr. Satan!"**_ the announcer's voice filled the stadium, drawing a loud cheer from the waiting crowd.

The arena itself was of a basic setup; a standard colosseum amphitheater design with a steel structure built into the volcano itself. Just as the mountain wrapped around the entire dome, the rows and balconies of the various spectator stands lapped the entire perimeter of the building's interior where, instead of a conventional martial arts ring, there stood a massive stone pyramid. From it, four ramps could be seen running from the level just below the apex of the central structure, leading into four separate tunnels.

The vehicles designed to travel along this system; four identical jet pods, all color-coded, numbered and positioned at the entrance to each slide.

With spotlights beating down from the stadium ceiling, lighting up the entire platform, and every single camera transfixed upon the center stage and feeding directly to the massive monitors on the walls, the audience would be able to get full coverage of the events to come. The audience held their breaths as their anticipation started to build once more.

Having managed to navigate her way from the first island and into the stands, Videl was able to find herself a comfortable spot along the walkway running around the stadium. Standing high above the rest of the crowds so as to not get caught up in a sea of bodies, the eleven year old girl gripped the railing excitedly as she waited for the final events to start. After seeing Gohan practically kick his opponent through an entire section of earth, she knew she was going to be in for one hell of a show.

" _I know you're going to kick a lot of butt out there, Gohan,"_ Videl thought as her foot tapped impatiently against the floor. "Show me what else you've got."

When the lights on the pyramid lit up, four individual hatches on the platform opened, allowing the elevators to bring the four contestants up from underground. As their faces emerged from the tunnels, the crowd of over fifty thousand people cheered loudly, drowning the martial artists in a wash of excitement and support.

Despite the deafening noise the stadium was making, it did nothing to block out the voices from several key people sitting in the audience.

When her son's face appeared on screen, Chi-Chi cried out at the top of her lungs, "GOHAN! I LOVE YOU SWEETIEEE!"

Blushing a deep shade of red, the blonde Saiyan looked down at his feet in embarrassment. "Mum, not so loud."

Seeing Gohan's face turn red in response to the strange woman's yell caused Videl to giggle, as she guessed that that was probably his mother.

"You've got this Trunks! Go beat those guys and then we can go on vacation!" Bulma shouted shortly after her friend had.

Sharing the same response as his fellow hybrid, the blushing Trunks mumbled under his breath, "Tactful as always, mother."

"Krillin! Don't get yourself killed!" Oolong's voice also echoed in from somewhere in the stands.

The pig's comment earned a deep scowl from the bald fighter, who glanced over his shoulder in the direction he heard his friend's statement. _"Oh I'll survive. Then it's bacon time."_

Android 18 on the other hand had to contend with the whistles from the men in the audience, and while she appreciated some of their compliments, the collective cries started to get on her nerves.

"Hey, baby! Looking good!"

"You got this, sweetheart!"

"Beat those guys to a pulp!"

"Yeah! Go get em' beautiful!"

A tick mark formed on the woman's head as she glanced over her shoulder. _"Pigs."_

As soon as the lifts stopped, the rest of the lights went up and the four contestants, as well as the entire stadium, heard the commentator's voice blare into life. _**"New island, new rules! We have four tunnels underground, all of them leading to four specially designed combat zones in each direction. Now that the combatants have been assigned a tunnel, they will soon be transported to their zones via rocket pods!"**_ The tracks next to the tiny shuttles lit up, drawing the attention of the four fighters to their respective modes of transport. _ **"Once there, they will face off against our special guests: FIGHTERS FROM ACROSS THE GALAXY!"**_

The monitor overhead showed a recording of the four "aliens" the contestants were expected to encounter, descending an escalator in the tournament's ad campaign. Big, bulging with muscles, and dressed in ridiculous costumes, the bedazzled strangers from outer space helped increase the audience's excitement as the announcer went on with his exposition.

" _ **Now pay attention, because this is where things get really good! Once a fight ends, the challenge isn't over! The victor must track down a special lift, fight off any and all other competitors in their way, and be the first to return to the center stage here in the arena. The winner will then move on to the final round against Mr. Satan!"**_ This announcement drew an earsplitting roar from the crowd, who then began to chant the world savior's name… much to the embarrassment of Videl.

While Gohan and Trunks were excited at the prospects of fighting one another in the last round of the tournament, the rest of the competition didn't share the same sentiment.

"Perfect. It's a race to the finish line," a grinning Krillin exclaimed as he proceeded to clamber into his pod. "Since I'm packing the least wind resistance, that means I'll have the advantage in speed." Getting comfortable as he strapped himself in, he then watched the glass top pull over and seal shut, muffling the sounds of the crowd outside.

The other three fighters followed suit, jumping into their pods and buckling up for what they anticipated to be one hell of a ride. Even Android 18 was looking forward to this. Once the staff on site were certain the competitors were locked in, they gave a thumbs-up to the pod operators, who then informed the chiefs of staff that they were ready to go.

This information trickled down to the main commentator, who quickly hit the stop watch, _**"Let's begin the countdown!"**_ The monitors switched to a timer, which began counting down from ten. **"Nine! Eight! Seven Six!"** __The audience chanted in unison, building the tension as the martial artists in the pods gripped the handle bars and braced themselves for take-off. **"Five! Four! Three! Two! One!"** __Then, as soon as the timer hit zero, the horn blared. _ **"Aaand… GO!"**_

With the sound of simultaneous sonic booms, the jet pods fired up their rockets and took off down their slides. Trailing smoke, the four craft vanished down their respective tunnels, covering the nearby reporters and clouds in fumes. Coughing on the dust and smoke, the reporter nearest to the launch turned towards his cameraman and grinned.

" **And they're off!"**

The Z-fighters went in not knowing what to expect. But as their pods shot through the tunnels towards their assigned arenas, what they didn't know was that their greatest battle was about to begin.

 _TO BE CONTINUED…_


	4. Bojack Saga - Team Effort

**Dragonball Z**

 _ **Golden Age**_

 _Team Effort_

"Woo! Yeah! This is so awesome!" Gohan cheered as his pod rocketed down his tunnel, hitting corners and powering down slopes at an incredible speed. Even though the half-Saiyan was more than capable of traveling even faster than this tiny craft, the youngster couldn't help but laugh out loud in delight at the fun he was having. "Hahaha! Faster! Faster!"

The instant the four rocket pods were sent propelling down their respective tunnels towards their selected battle zones constructed on different parts of the island, the contestants riding the fast-moving vehicles were immediately bombarded by the most visually stunning acid trips ever concocted by man. This took the form of dozens of massive hallway simulators and monitors, all of which were working in tandem with one another to project to the unsuspecting competitors all sorts of colorful animations and visuals. At first the tunnels opened up with a three-dimensional digital world taken straight out of Tron; the multiple grids and constructs concealing the paths of the individual pods as they repeatedly intersected and changed directions.

After a computer generated whale knocked Krillin's pod bouncing down his corridor, the four pods separated from their intersecting pathways and blasted towards the four quadrants of the island.

Gohan's pod traveled through the simulation of the _Milky Way_ , putting the teen in momentary awe of his surroundings before he was sent rocketing towards one of the "planets" on one of the arms of the spiral galaxy. Moments later, after plummeting through the digitally rendered world's atmosphere, the Saiyan's pod was spat out over a barren wasteland of rocky tors, boulders, and rivers of lava. The young Saiyan laughed as his pod bounced off of several hills and towering stalagmites, before landing gracefully across an open patch of dirt.

On another part of the island Mirai Trunks was sent on his own trip through fairyland, his pod spiraling through a kaleidoscope of colors and corridors, before eventually being sent gliding over a boiling hot ocean of rock, sand and dust. With an artificial sun glowing brightly overhead, the lavender haired traveler from the future eventually crash landed in the middle of his desert battle zone, the copious amounts of loose sand cushioning his craft's impact.

Android 18's pod sent her on a different course to the others. After spinning through an aura borealis of crystals and stars, her prolonged trip allowing her to appreciate the full splendor of her simulated universe, the blonde's pod was soon sent soaring over an enormous lake sitting beside an immaculate field of trees and flowers. The female cyborg was able to enjoy the breathtaking view for all of a few seconds, before her craft was skimmed across the water and came to a gentle stop on the shore.

Krillin's landing wasn't so kind to him. After spinning seemingly out of control down his tunnel, the poor Z-fighter was then shot into a world of purple clouds. Bursting through the upper stratosphere, the man then crashed headlong into what he could only describe as a castle of children's building blocks. He then gave a scream of terror as he then collided with the belly of a massive teddy bear, before his pod ejected him into a pile of dolls. After knocking over the stack, he ended up plopping down onto a giant balloon.

Bouncing on it a couple of times, the disoriented Krillin blinked and chuckled nervously moments later. "Okay. That could've been a lot worse."

XXX

(With Android 18#)

Popping the hatch of his pod and exiting it, an altogether neutral Android 18 hopped onto dryland and casually wandered over to the nearby river. Pushing her way through the long grass while keeping an eye open for any potential traps or attackers, the beautiful blonde android then peered over the side of the creek to see a couple of fish swim past.

Narrowing her eyes when a tiny dragonfly flew over her shoulder to land on a nearby reed, Eighteen then followed the sweeping field towards the distant horizon. "Okay. So what happens now? Are we supposed to have a picnic or something?" the woman asked, taking note of the massive spire sitting in the distance. Figuring that was where she was supposed to go next, the female cyborg then slowly began making her way in that direction, at the same time expecting to face her opponent for this stage of the tournament.

She then began thinking about who she would end up fighting afterwards when she defeated her intergalactic competitor and made it to the finish line.

Hopefully it would be Gohan. That kid could definitely give her a solid fight and not be too aggressive or vicious about it, not to mention he was nice. But she was also hoping to fight Krillin, just for the heck of it.

"As long as I get to have some fun," the cyborg chirped, a small smile tugging at her lips.

XXX

(With Gohan)

Making his way across the hellish environment of his battle zone, being sure not to tread or land in any of the pools of lava dotting the terrain, Gohan headed in the direction of what he hoped was the finish line. Using the cluster of ki signatures in what he assumed was the stadium above as his guide, the young Saiyan covered as much ground as he could on foot, before eventually arriving at a dusty clearing. Using the open space to get his bearings, Gohan was then about to proceed to another hill, until the appearance of a silhouette in the wall of fumes ahead of him stopped him in his tracks.

Sensing the figure's presence, the adolescent Super Saiyan in the orange and blue gi smiled and straightened up to full height.

"You must be my opponent?" he half-stated, half-asked. Receiving no audible response right away Gohan then began to stroll towards the person with a sense of purpose behind each step. "I gotta say this is one hell of a place to stage a fight for the tournament; a desolate field surrounded by fire and brimstone? Guess the owners wanted to make this part of the competition as flashy and over-the-top as possible, huh?" Trying to make small talk as he ambled closer, the demi-Saiyan saw the wall of smoke begin to dissipate and his adversary emerge. "By the way, my name's Gohan. What's yours?"

"Zangya."

Gohan stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the person answer and looked up in surprise. There, standing on top of the ledge, the kid saw a beautiful, blue-skinned young woman with a curvaceous figure, long, curly orange hair that fanned around her and grew down her back, and a stunning face with sharp blue eyes and a gentle smile, framed by a pair of pointy ears. Her outfit consisted of a white vest, baggy pants with gold buckles, a sharp gold necklace, earrings, a blue, halter-style undershirt, black pull-on sleeves, purple sash, and yellow boots.

While her costume was indeed unusual, giving her a very outlandish and mystical appearance, Gohan couldn't help but notice how striking the young girl actually was, which had his cheeks heat up unexpectedly. Looking at her face, the teen's breath momentarily caught in his throat.

" _Wow. She's really pretty."_ He didn't get to say that a lot about most of the enemies he'd fought, mostly because they'd all been terrifying planet-destroying monsters. But in terms of looks and appearance, this girl was easily on par with Android 18. She was absolutely stunning.

Obviously she knew this too, as the blue-skinned beauty casually reached up and brushed aside a few of her orange locks, at the same time giving a light giggle.

After several seconds of staring at the woman on the ledge and admiring her, a sudden thought shot through Gohan's head that had him snap out of his daze. It took him a moment, but the young warrior was finally able to register to the fact that something was off about her and the hybrid narrowed his eyes on his would-be opponent.

"You're not one of the intergalactic fighters," Gohan said. He remembered seeing the previews of the event just seconds before coming down here and what the four challengers from outer space were supposed to look like. This woman wasn't any of them.

The teen's suspicions were soon confirmed when the stranger identified as Zangya shook her head. "Nope."

"Okay." Reacting instinctively, the demi-Saiyan slid his right foot back into a standing stance and clenched his fists. "Since you're not one of the challengers and you don't seem to be from any part of this planet that I know of, I take it that you're _not_ here for the competition?"

Zangya rested a hand on her hip and leaned to one side, "You catch on pretty quick, handsome."

Gohan shrugged, "Well, I am pretty sharp." He then nodded to the mysterious woman. "So who are you, exactly?"

Smiling mischievously, the alien beauty casually raised her hand and aimed it at the young teenager. "Maybe this will help answer your question." In the blink of an eye, a glowing red sphere of pulsating energy formed in front of Zangya's palm before it was fired at the blonde haired teenager at blinding speed.

On cue, the battle-ready Gohan stepped and leaned to the right, avoiding the energy ball that streaked past his head and rocketed towards the horizon. The attack impacted a distant plateau, where it detonated with the force of a small nuclear warhead and incinerated the entire section of earth in a massive, dome-shaped explosion.

A clearly impressed Zangya promptly lowered her arm, "Nice reflexes."

"Nice power." Not even bothering to look behind him, the initially surprised Super Saiyan then smirked. "Got anymore?"

"Sure." Grinning in response to the teen's question, Zangya then brought her arms above her head and crossed them over her face. The moment she did, a powerful gust of wind emanated from her body and caused her hair to stand upright. Her energy signature skyrocketing as a result, Gohan braced himself against the wind that shot off of his opponent, before he suddenly saw the woman spring off of the plateau and charge at him in a blur.

Everything happened in a flash. Gohan's right arm shot up and blocked a flying spin kick from the airborne Zangya, her leg impacting against his with a loud crack of a shockwave. The moment her attack was blocked the orange haired woman suddenly performed an aerial cartwheel over her opponent, getting behind him and spinning gracefully at him with a side kick. Parrying that blow, the blonde began deflecting and counterattacking a flurry of earth-rattling attacks from his foe, their limbs colliding and shaking the very ground beneath them.

Despite the fact that the foundations at their feet and the mesas standing around them were starting to collapse, neither Gohan nor Zangya's expressions conveyed any sense of effort. While the Saiyan's face appeared neutral and the woman still had a smile on her face, the pair continued to exchange blows until the orange haired fighter swung at Gohan's head with a deliberately wide kick.

Swaying back at the last second to avoid the blow, Gohan then slammed a hand into the dirt behind him and, while putting himself into a handstand, countered with a kick to the side of Zangya's head. Before his leg could land however, the orange haired fighter used the momentum of her missed kick to spin herself around and throw a second one down at her opponent, their attacks connecting at the same time with concussive force.

The shockwave that rang out from their attacks landing simultaneously punched a crater into the floor and sent both fighters hurtling away from one another.

Stopping her flight short with a quick burst of ki, Zangya cocked her hand back and grinned. "Let's dance, cutie." She then pitched a green ball of energy at her target.

Smirking in return, Gohan deflected her curved blast with a parry and fired one right back at her. "After you."

His golden bolt of energy shot right at the woman, who quickly head-slipped it and pitched another red ball his way. Catching the attack and leap-frogging over it, Gohan then thrust both hands forward and fired a second shot at her, watching Zangya cross her arms and perform a fancy, diagonal twirl around it, during which time she lobbed two more spheres at the Saiyan. Kicking one into the sky and slapping away the second simultaneously, Gohan retaliated with a third shot, which split into three separate energy balls midflight.

In a matter of moments countless streaks of gold and red energy attacks filled the sky and began raining down upon the battlefield, which lit up the landscape in a series of fantastic explosions. In the midst of the chaos now unfolding in the arena that was starting to crumble around them, both fighters became locked in an epic aerial shootout, neither one of them missing a beat nor daring to back down.

Unbeknownst to the half-Saiyan hero, who was caught up in his battle with the powerful female, a dark presence had fallen over the island…

XXX

Up in the stadium above ground, the spectators cheered and roared loudly with excitement as they watched the young Super Saiyan Gohan going toe-to-toe with the first intergalactic fighter. Their feedback was well earned, as both the young lad and lady were putting on one hell of a performance.

While the majority of the crowd continued to applaud the fight that was now being broadcasted to them via the multiple roaming cameras in the battle zone, including Videl who was enthralled to see how well her newfound friend was doing, there were several people in the audience who weren't cheering.

Bulma blinked when she saw Gohan block another kick from his opponent on screen, before barely dodging a blast she attempted to hit him with at pointblank range. "Wow. That girl sure packs a wallop."

Watching the fight closely and seeing her son return fire with a punch to the alien girl's face, Chi-Chi narrowed her eyes worriedly. "Wait… something doesn't feel right."

The intergalactic fighters competing in this tournament were supposed to be a bunch of posers in costumes, right? If that was the case, since when was a person from _this_ planet outside of their group capable of exchanging blows with a Super Saiyan?

All of the others seemed to pick up on this too, and not just Chi-Chi and Master Roshi. Down in the food court of _Battle Island II_ , where a majority of the fighters from the previous stages had ended up migrating to, Tien and Yamcha were enjoying a couple of cold beverages while catching up on current affairs.

When their attention turned to the nearby monitor running a feed of all four battle zones and they saw Gohan engage the orange haired female in battle, both fighters immediately knew something was amiss.

Quickly finishing their drinks, the two stood up and made a B-line for the stadium.

XXX

(With Trunks)

Hot.

That was the only thought currently going through Mirai Trunks's head as he continued traversing the uneven, boiling landscape of his desert battle zone. Honestly, as if the multiple moving platforms and circus arrangements of the first stage of the competition wasn't bad enough. Now they were making the contestants fight each other in landscapes that could potentially kill you simply based on their terrain and environment.

Now while he had no idea what all the other battle zones were like, he assumed they were about as harsh and unforgiving as this one. So, doing his best to ignore the elements beating down on him from all around, the young time traveler started marching in the direction of the large spire he could see in the distance. While part of him kept an extra lookout for his competition, the other part of him just wanted to get the hell out of there.

He was so focused on getting across the loose terrain that he vaguely noticed the footprints he was leaving behind disappear into the sand… and the sinkhole that started to form after marching over one of the sandy hills.

It was only when an unusual presence pinged on Trunks's radar that had him stop in his tracks and stare ahead of him in surprise. "Wait. What is that?" He then felt a power increase coming from directly behind him and spun around. "Shit!"

The moment he did, the dune he'd passed just seconds ago suddenly exploded into a cloud of dust as a massive, blue figure sprang out of the mound, lunging at him with a punch. Reacting instinctively, Trunks leapt away and deflected the man's blow with a quick hand-slap, before spinning around with a backwards heel kick, hoping to catch his attacker off guard. However, much to his shock, he saw his large assailant check his kick and retaliate with one of his own.

Ducking under it and dropping altitude, an alarmed Trunks speedily started back flipping across the sandy terrain while his enemy pursued him. Landing on a distant hill, the lavender haired warrior then sprang into the sky when the man lunged at him with a wild punch, his attack impacting the hill and causing a massive shockwave that wiped out the entire dune in a massive cloud.

Able to escape the cloud of dust, Trunks landed safely on another hill and, dropping into a defensive stance, watched the sand settle around the enormous crater, where his attacker quickly revealed himself from the veil. Standing in the ditch, the demi-Saiyan saw a large, muscular man about the same height as Piccolo with blue skin, pointy ears and an orange Mohawk, wearing white pants, a black obi, purple vest, golden gloves and boots, and various triangle-shaped jewelry all over his person. On top of the bling and the pirate-style look the strange fighter was sporting, the lavender haired warrior sensed a very strong power level radiating off of him, which matched the menacing grin he was currently throwing his way.

Frankly it had the time traveler's skin crawl.

"Okay, what's the big idea?! Are you trying to kill me or something?!" Trunks asked, not expecting one of the Intergalactic Fighters to be _this_ strong but deciding to go with it nonetheless.

Smirking, the blue fighter raised his finger and pointed it at the boy, before suddenly firing off a sharp red beam at him.

Recoiling in alarm, Trunks sprang into the air and avoided the attack that struck the dune and disintegrated it in a massive explosion. However, just before he could gain enough altitude, the demi-Saiyan was stopped dead in his tracks when he felt a strong hand grab him by the boot. Looking down in alarm, he saw his attacker had managed to jump after him and catch him at the last second, upon which the alien then ripped him out of the sky and chucked him across the desert.

Spinning as he flew a distance of about a kilometer, Trunks quickly threw himself into an aerial spin and recovered, slamming his feet into the sand and sliding to a stop. He then looked up with a start.

"Whoa, where the hell did that come from?!" The hybrid was unable to get an answer when the large fighter dove at him and thrust a punch towards his face. Trunks was able to catch the man's huge fist with both his hands, the blow causing a loud thunderclap as the Saiyan was pushed several feet back through the sand. After managing to grind himself to a stop, the sweating time traveler looked up in alarm. " _You_ … you're not one of the fighters!"

The huge assailant leered, "Took you long enough."

Eyes narrowing aggressively, the lavender haired boy snarled, "Who are you?!"

"The name's Bido. Nice to meet you!" With a yell, the alien raised his other hand and thrust a punch at his smaller opponent, forcing him to dodge and ending in his fist striking the ground, causing another massive explosion of sand and dust to blast into the air, which swallowed both warriors up…

XXX

(Meanwhile)

(West City – Capsule Corp)

Springing out of his bed with a start, a bead of sweat ran down the side of Vegeta's head when his senses caught something ominous in the distance.

It at first started out with feeling Gohan's energy level climb to clash with another that was seemingly on the same level. Now while at first the prince thought that his rival's son had gotten into a clash with one of the other members of their crew, when he sensed Trunks's energy signature suddenly come into contact with another, more threatening presence, the man couldn't help but sit up when he felt all four power levels jump to a dangerous level.

Reaching out to get a better read of the situation, the nervous Vegeta then gritted his teeth. "Something's wrong." He then looked over his shoulder, his eyes falling upon his son's sword. When he saw the handle of the weapon gleam, the prince quickly took on a more resolute expression and, jumping out of bed, picked up the sheathed blade…

XXX

(Otherworld)

While the crowds down in the stadium of _Battle Island II_ were having a ridiculously fun time watching the two qualifying contestants battle the 'intergalactic warriors', who had somehow gone through some kind of awesome wardrobe change since the preview, up in the land of the dead the people watching the tournament on the magic box were having an entirely different response.

The tournament had gotten off to an exciting and very predictable start, where King Kai, Goku, Bubbles and Gregory were able to observe their friends and family clean house with the rest of the competition. It was a wild and exciting ride and, when the tournament moved into the quarter finals, they even had a good time watching the first couple of matches between the Z-fighters. However, the moment the fights for the second stage began, all excitement of the moment was replaced by a sudden sense of apprehension and fear.

The smiles on King Kai and Goku's faces quickly disappeared as they watched the two intergalactic fighters swap blows with both Gohan and Trunks across their respective terrains. When they saw the largest member of the intergalactic competition launch a barrage of tiny red energy balls at the time traveler and transformed an entire area of desert into Swiss cheese, the adult Saiyan could only blink in confusion.

"Huh? What the heck's going on down there?" Goku asked, before hearing the chair next to him clatter loudly. Looking to his right, the dead Saiyan saw his mentor scamper over to the edge of their mountain peak and, getting on his hands and knees, peer over the side. "King Kai?"

Antenna twitching as he extended his senses down to the planet, the blue guardian of the North Quadrant gasped fearfully.

"The Earth is in danger!"

XXX

(With Android 18#)

Strolling across the rich, pristine field of her battle zone with her hands in her pockets, Android 18 was taking her sweet time in admiring the scenery around her. Appreciating the sights and smells of the artificially created countryside, the blonde young woman heard the sound of chirping and looked down, where she saw a pink squirrel staring back up at her. Smiling at the little mammal's cute features and colors, the android then crouched down and reached forward to pet it.

However, before she could touch the animal, a red flash of light over her shoulder suddenly had Android 18's head snap around, before the woman sprang high into the air to avoid a red ball of energy slamming into the field and detonating in the form of a massive fireball, burning a deep crater into the earth. Landing several yards away from the point of impact, the young woman glared in the direction the attack had come from and spotted a shadowy figure crouched in a distant cherry blossom tree.

Perched comfortably in the branches, the blonde cyborg saw a large, blue-skinned man with pointy ears, orange spiky hair, and wearing a purple-headband, yellow boots, black jacket, and bunches of gold jewelry, with his hand pointed directly at the spot she'd been standing in earlier. He was also armed with a long sword with a strange tri-corner guard sheathed at his side, a sight that had alarms go off in Android 18's head.

Upon hearing the swashbuckling challenger chuckle, the blonde cyborg sneered, "Oh, you think that was funny, huh? Well I dare you to come down here and try that again! Let's see how that works out for you!"

With a cocky scoff the orange-haired assailant sprang out of the tree and darted down towards the field in a blur. Drawing his fist back and giving a loud battle cry, the man lunged at the woman with a punch, only for the cyborg to dodge and get behind him. The moment she was in range Android 18 then countered with a hook towards his face, only to watch the man catch it and lock her arm up. Surprised, the blonde then felt her strangely dressed foe pick her up and toss her across the hills.

The blonde android threw herself into a spin and slammed her feet into the floor, skidding to a stop several yards away. The moment her momentum ended she looked up at the man in alarm. "What the heck? What in the world are you?!" She was unable to finish her exclamation when her attacker came flying at her a second time with a kick, prompting the woman to duck and counter with a spinning heel kick. When he checked it, a shockwave rang out, which quickly led the two into a vicious exchange of blows across the field.

Dancing around each other, the two traded a series of blindingly fast blows, before Android 18 sprang at her opponent with a knee. A loud clang then rang out when her attack slammed into something solid, which turned out to be the edge of the man's sword that he drew halfway out of its sheath to block her attack.

The blue-skinned warrior smirked, "Someone you don't want to mess with, girl." Shoving her off, the attacker drew his weapon completely and swung down at her.

Barely avoiding the flash of his blade, Android 18 retreated through the hills, avoiding the man's swings and keeping just out of reach of his weapon. Taking flight, the woman then shot across the lake at terrific speed, watching her opponent give pursuit with a determined look on his face. Getting annoyed at being chased, the blonde woman spun around and let off a golden blast towards the swordsman, watching him cut the attack in half before lunging right at her.

Kicking his sword out of the way, Android 18 then dove back down to the lake and landed in the shallows. Before the splash had even settled the woman leapt out of the way a second time to avoid her foe crashing down on top of her, his sword slamming into the floor and splitting the ground up the shore and towards the hill. When the land shifted from the force of his valley-splitting blow, both combatants then glared one another down, with the alien wearing that oh-so-irritating smirk on his face.

Gritting her teeth, Android 18 snarled, "Who are you?"

The swordsman grinned, "Gokuha. A pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is all _mine!_ " the blonde responded, before thrusting her hand out and unleashing a golden blast towards the orange-haired alien…

XXX

(With Krillin)

In the children's fairytale land of cotton candy and giant teddy bears, Krillin found himself staring up at a tower of giant alphabet blocks, all stacked precariously on top of each other. Tilting his head at the unusual structure and his surroundings, the short, bald fighter placed his hands on his hips and chuckled when he observed a couple of giant pink bubbles bounce past him.

"Well… there are weirder places I could've landed. Though personally I would've preferred a nice tropical beach on an island somewhere or a backyard in a small country-" He was cut off when he noticed a black shadow fall over him and looked up. "OH CRAP!" He then jumped out of the way when two of the giant alphabet blocks on the tower came crashing down on top of him.

Krillin cried out in terror as he continued leaping from place to place, dodging more giant blocks that came dropping out of the sky one after the other. After successfully yet very clumsily avoiding all of them, the bald warrior quickly found himself backed into the face of a giant clock, where he then glared up and spotted the source of the sudden shower of enormous objects.

Floating down from the pink clouds and suspending himself upside down above the ground, the Z-fighter found himself staring at a short, blue-skinned man about the same height as him, wearing a purple turban, white pants, yellow boots, a red buckle jacket, and golden jewelry all over, giving him the appearance of a shaman. Snickering when he saw the bald martial artist freak out at the sight of him, the strange magician suddenly lifted both his arms and, with a golden glow emanating off of all of his gems, began conjuring an aura of electrical energy from his palms.

Balking in confusion, Krillin's gaze suddenly shot over his shoulder when he heard the sounds of large pieces of metal shaking, a split second before the two giant hands of the clock behind him ripped off and flew through the air. Seeing them arc dangerously close to him, the frightened human fighter leapt away, avoiding the giant blades when they shot past him. Dropping down on top of a giant drum several yards away, Krillin braced himself before giving a loud scream, his white aura blasting around him and incinerating the two giant handles when they attempted to impale him.

After dispersing of the two objects, the now more serious Z-fighter threw his hand out towards the floating mage. "Whoa, whoa! Hold on! Isn't this going a little bit too far?!"

The turban-wearing stranger chuckled, "You tell me." Holding both hands out, orange lightning then began radiating off of his body, which caused the environment around them to shimmer.

Moments later Krillin was able to watch as the funhouse landscape around him melted away and revealed a mountain forest surrounding him. Beads of sweat trickling down the sides of his face, the bald martial artist then turned to glare at the one responsible for the anomaly. If he didn't know any better, this creep was playing tricks on him.

"Okay. This is new," Krillin murmured, quickly coming to the realization that he'd been stuck in an illusion. "Not gonna lie… that was pretty freaking terrifying. So… w-what am I supposed to call you?"

The short alien grinned, "You can call me… Bujin." All of a sudden, without warning, the mysterious warrior vanished in a flicker.

Recoiling in surprise at the speed of the small warrior, Krillin attempted to track where his opponent had gotten to, before he was suddenly punched across the face. The shock of the hit sent the Z-fighter's brain bouncing all about his head, an affect that was stopped dead when Bujin darted around and nailed him in the stomach with a kick, sending the man blasting through a group of large mushrooms growing behind him, before crashing straight into the side of a cliff.

His body driven into the rocky surface of the bluff, the battered and bruised Z-fighter looked up through a half-lidded gaze, before a pained grin formed on his face. "Yep… that hurt like hell." His eyes then rolled into the back of his head and lolled forward, indicating he'd lost consciousness.

XXX

(With Gohan)

Krillin's sudden drop in energy was felt all across the island by both the spectators and the rest of the competition. His defeat was so sudden that it almost had the rest of the competitors in the other three battle zones stop mid-fight, as they had not expected one of their own to be taken out so quickly.

But the worst was yet to come.

Just as Gohan was in the middle of trading blows with his opponent atop a rocky tor, ending in both him and Zangya becoming locked in a tense and rather intimate clinching position, a sudden blip on his radar had the young Super Saiyan look up in alarm.

A powerful and incredibly malicious presence shot through his head like lightning, which had the young warrior glance over his shoulder. "Who's there?!" Tracking the energy signature to a position not too far away, the demi-Saiyan's glare quickly hardened and he looked back at his opponent, whose nose was just centimeters from his as their arms grappled for dominance. "A friend of yours?"

Zangya, frowning as she struggled to hold her ground against the ridiculously powerful boy, then forced a smirk, "More like my boss… and he's knocking on your front door."

The young Saiyan huffed, "He's calling me out, huh?" When he saw the woman nod, Gohan then gritted his teeth. "Well then… I guess I should go greet him."

Satisfied enough with her answer, Gohan decided to break off from his battle for the time being and thrust a knee up at his opponent, who blocked it with one of her own. Their attacks collided with a loud shockwave and knocked both fighters away from each other. The moment he was free, the demi-Saiyan pitched an energy ball at his enemy, forcing her to deflect it with a swift chop. Though his attack failed to do any damage, it still gave Gohan enough time to retreat and fly off to find his friend…

And with any luck the source of that malicious power level.

As he flew across the wasteland of his volcanic battleground with Zangya in hot pursuit, the young Super Saiyan couldn't help but clench his fists nervously.

" _Hold on, Krillin."_

XXX

(Otherworld)

Beads of nervous sweat running down his face, the blue Kai of the North spoke in a grave voice, "This is bad."

"You said the Earth was in danger," Goku responded from behind his mentor, with Bubbles and Gregory hovering close behind him. "But from what?"

"You mean _who_. Bojack," the trainer replied cryptically, his eyes remaining fixed on the endless yellow horizon in front of him.

Blinking when he heard the name, an equally anxious Goku pressed on for further explanation. "B-Bojack?"

"A dark demon of the worst sort; psychotic, unstable, filled with malice and rage. Long ago he tried to destroy every galaxy within the Dormideous and Kantos Sectors, and even attempted to conquer the core star systems between the four quadrants," King Kai informed, unable to hide the look of fear clearly reflected on his expression. "He and his gang rampaged across the entire universe unchecked, wrecking everything in their path and threatening to throw the entire order out of balance."

"Wow. This guy sounds a lot like King Piccolo," Goku remarked, his mind taking him back to the days he encountered the evil half of Kami and his minions all those years ago.

Agreeing with this comparison, the North Kai nodded, "Yes, but far more powerful… even more powerful than both Frieza and Cell." The man then turned towards his student, looking upon him with an anxious and foreboding expression. "He has an insatiable appetite for genocide... even going so far as to wipe out the entire population of his home planet. The survivors, terrified of his power, joined forces with him. And now, just like the Saiyans, he and his group are some of the last remaining Hera-seijins left in the universe."

It was then Goku spotted a missing plot point in his teacher's story, which had the Saiyan look at him inquisitively. "So what happened to him? Where has he been hiding all this time?" Surely someone that powerful and evil wouldn't have gone amiss by their group. Heck, with his track record, this Bojack guy could've easily given Frieza a run for his money if not supplant his position as evil Galactic Emperor entirely.

King Kai walked past his student with his hands behind his back, taking his worried meditation over to another side of the cliff, "Ten thousand years ago, my fellow Kais and I took it upon ourselves to stop him. All four of us combined our powers and sealed Bojack and his group inside a star at the edge of the Andromeda Galaxy."

This information had Goku recoil in surprise, "He's trapped in a star?"

The blue-skinned trainer shook his head, "Not anymore. You set him free when you destroyed my planet during your battle against Cell. The seal was weakened and allowed Bojack and his group to escape. Now he's returned for vengeance." The North Kai's glasses flashed, this time with fear evident on his face. "And it looks like his first target is planet Earth."

In spite of the terrifying news, Goku's confidence was unshaken, which he expressed through the smile that formed on his lips moments later. "Then he's already defeated. My son will stop him."

XXX

(Back on Earth)

Her furious battle taking her over the sweeping fields of her battle zone and into another more desolate landscape dotted by ancient ruins and rugged hillsides, a frustrated Android 18 was now finding it very difficult to keep her determined and very powerful opponent at bay.

Having tried to ditch Gokuha earlier when she felt Krillin's energy signature drop off the map, her contest of strength quickly transformed into a dangerous game of cat and mouse, where not only was she having to contend with navigating this damn carnival funhouse, but also fend off her competition. Considering the guy was far stronger than most of the other fighters she'd come across in the last few months, it was safe to say Android 18 wanted to put as much distance between herself and him as possible. The fact that he was also packing a sword gave her more inclination to stay away, even though she knew she could probably take a hit from his saber.

Darting through the sky just below the dome's surface and sporting a fresh series of cuts and bruises, the blonde cyborg proceeded with her search while simultaneously trading shots with her foe. Seeing him charging at her at high speed from below, Android 18 gritted her teeth, cocked her hand back, and lobbed a golden sphere of energy at her target. Watching him vault over it, Gokuha then came at her with a yell and a wide swing of his weapon, which the blonde ducked and countered with a swift kick to his ribs.

"Piss off!" she shouted when her blow buried into his stomach with a loud crack, causing the man to spit up as he was sent blasting back across the sky.

Taking a defensive stance as her opponent recovered, Android 18 prepared for a second bout, only to pick up the faint and familiar energy signature of Krillin nearby. Eyes widening, she then looked down towards a nearby ruined church. There, lying in the courtyard beside a damaged water fountain, she spotted the unconscious body of the Z-fighter sprawled out on the floor.

Eyes fixating on him for but a moment, the blonde cyborg gasped, "Krillin." All of a sudden Android 18's attention snapped back to her opponent and, seeing him dashing right at her, sprang up into the sky to avoid his punch. The moment she dodged the blonde prepared to launch a blast at her enemy's back, only to receive a swift kick to her spine by a second enemy appearing directly above her.

The blow sent Android 18 spinning towards the church courtyard, where she crashed beside the unconscious Krillin and sent debris pelting all across the entire quad. Groaning from the sneak attack from her blind spot, the battered cyborg craned her head and glared up towards the balcony ahead of her. There, not only did she see her armed opponent land, but a second, shorter alien in a purple turban and red jacket, both of whom were smirking broadly.

"Th-There's more of them?" Android 18 whispered shakily as her body echoed from the damage she'd taken. "Where the heck are these guys coming from?"

It was then the woman heard a new voice appear on the scene; one that was deep and reverberated menacingly across the quad.

"Company? _Good_."

The young woman then became aware of the sounds of chains jangling and heavy footsteps approaching, which drew her glare towards the doorway sitting between the two aliens in front of her. As she eyed the darkness carefully, her expression slowly transformed into one of fear and shock when, from out of the shadows of the ruined structure, she saw a third alien emerge.

Dressed in a long blue trench coat with golden buckles, a black top, white pants, red sash and yellow boots, with a bandana holding down a mane of bushy orange hair, the person she assumed was the leader of the group stepped onto the balcony and stood between his two subordinates. Also covered in golden jewelry, the towering newcomer also had a hideous scar running across his face, giving him a very intimidating appearance.

The moment his eyes settled on the android down below, the terrifying looking alien chuckled, "It's been so long... since I last massacred an entire race. Perhaps _you_ can help me get the ball rolling with this one."

Shivering where she lay, the injured Android 18 gritted her teeth nervously, "His power level… it's incredible." She hadn't sensed someone this strong since…

Easily noticing the terror gripping the woman's lithe form, the alien leader grinned and raised his hand. When he did, a green ball of energy appeared in front of his palm, the attack pulsing and steadily growing in size. Once it'd achieved critical mass, the user spoke, "Die." He then fired the attack straight down at the woman with the intent of wiping out her and the unconscious Krillin.

Android 18 gasped in horror and clenched her eyes shut, knowing right then and there that she was finished. But just as the heat of the attack fell over her and the courtyard, something amazing happened.

Just as the blast was about to hit her, a figure suddenly darted into the path of the attack and, with a grunt, smacked the attack away. The ball of green ki shot towards the horizon where, after impacting the wall of the battle zone, exploded in a massive sphere of green, fiery energy. After the blast faded moments later, it revealed a five hundred foot wide hole had been burned into the side of the chamber, with a large cityscape sitting on the other side.

Realizing she wasn't dead, Android 18 looked up, where she saw Gohan standing in front of her, his back straight and hand extended in a deflecting motion. Her blue eyes shimmered in awe when she recognized who it was, "G-Gohan?"

Glancing down at the blonde with his green eyes, the young Super Saiyan smiled softly, "Are you okay?"

Gulping, the blonde cyborg smiled in relief, "I've been better." When he offered a hand to her, she gladly accepted it and was hoisted to her feet. "Thanks."

As soon as the android was back up, Gohan quickly turned his glare back to the person who'd tried to kill her, and saw the three aliens smirking down at him. "I think you and your friends have had enough fun."

The lead alien chuckled darkly and craned his head upwards, "The child… at last."

Gripping the handle of the sword sitting in his scabbard, the alien that'd been fighting Android 18 stepped forward belligerently. "You have some nerve jumping in like that, boy," Gokuha spoke, a frown pulled across his face as he drew his weapon ever so slightly. "On your knees… or I'll cut you down where you stand."

Sensing a confrontation about to unfold, Gohan clenched his fists and braced himself, only to then see his previous opponent float down and land on the railing nearby. Glancing at her momentarily, he saw Zangya sit down on top of the stone and fold her legs, at the same time throwing her hair back elegantly.

"Cool it, Gokuha," the female Hera ordered, drawing the swordsman's gaze towards her. "That one is _my_ opponent."

Grunting at hearing the first lieutenant's order, the swordsman stepped back and looked away. "Tsk. Fine."

As Android 18 knelt down to check on Krillin and make sure he was alright, Gohan kept his eyes fixed on all four aliens. Knowing that they were surrounded and outnumbered, the Super Saiyan had to stay sharp in case one of them decided to try anything funny. Their boss already tried to kill two of them in one go. Who's to say he won't try it again.

Before the situation could develop any further, the sound of jets rushing overhead alerted the opposing parties to the arrival of two more pods to the scene. Crisscrossing the church's airspace, a pair of figures suddenly leapt out of the small craft and dropped into the courtyard, where they skillfully landed on either side of Gohan.

Immediately recognizing the duo as Tien and Yamcha, the half-Saiyan then watched the martial artists glare across at the alien invaders.

"You murderers," Tien snarled, unable to keep the sweat from appearing along his brow when he sensed how powerful the group actually was. "You killed the Intergalactic Fighters."

Snickering, Bujin dropped down to one knee and placed a hand over his chest just like Gokuha, while Zangya merely sat on her ledge with her hand over her breast. "Those 'warriors' were trespassing. Earth belongs to my master now."

Gohan's frown deepened. "You think so, huh?"

"Not while we're still breathing," Yamcha spoke up, at the same time Android 18 stood up and joined the trio in their stand-off.

Even though the odds were now even, the Z-fighters were still at a major disadvantage. Their enemies were strong, as clearly indicated by the nervousness etched on the faces of the two male humans in the formation. Though they were also quite strong in their own humble rights, these invaders were in an entirely different league.

In support of his master, Gokuha, still poised on one knee, raised his hand and gestured it grandly over the landscape, "Master Bojack has no equal. There isn't a single being in this universe capable of standing up to his might."

"He has conquered hundreds of worlds and destroyed countless others… uncontested and undefeated," Zangya informed, twirling a finger through her hair when she saw the Z-fighters' eyes land upon her. "All those who were brave enough to think otherwise have ended up crushed beneath his heel."

"Master is not patient. You would be wise to stand down," Bujin informed. When he saw the group of four glance in his direction, the cretin in the turban leered. "Or better yet… _kneel_."

"Oh, I would love to, but uhh…" Gohan began before glancing in Zangya's direction and patting his left thigh, "Fighting your subordinate over there has given me a bit of a cramp in my left leg, so I'm afraid... kneeling will be hard." His exhausted sounding comment drew a snicker from the orange haired woman, while Bujin and Gokuha frowned.

The child's audacity caused Bojack to chuckle, "I bet you won't be saying the same thing after I'm done slaughtering all of your friends and loved ones." When he saw the boy's smile vanish, the leader of the group leered. "I'll make you watch as I kill every last person on this island. Right down to the last man, woman and child. You will listen to their screams and feel their pain, so that you remember every last detail of their deaths. And once every single person has been bled dry and your beloved home world has been brought to ruin, only then will I allow you death's sweet release."

Though the demon's declaration sent a cold chill through Tien, Yamcha and Android 18's bodies, all it did was make Gohan's expression harden. Glancing down at Krillin's unconscious form, the demi-Saiyan's head then became filled with even more images of his friends and family lying dead around him, including Bulma, his mother, Videl, and Piccolo. Feeling a rush of anger swell up inside of him at the alien's threats, the young warrior then took a deep breath to calm himself, turned, and spoke in a firm and unwavering tone of voice.

"I promise you… I will never let that happen."

A malicious grin then crossed Bojack's face, "We'll see." The man then lifted his head high to look down at his prey. "It's ironic that your father's death in the realm of the Kais was the key to our escape. I want to thank him personally for his deed, but I think you and your companions are going to have to do it for me." After which he then gave a stiff nod to his subordinates.

Without needing further instruction Bujin and Gokuha leapt from their spots on the balcony and charged at the group in the courtyard below. However, just as they were about to clash headfirst with Gohan and his friends, a flash of orange from their right suddenly caught their attention, forcing the two aliens to cut their attack short. They managed to leap back just in time to avoid a drill-shaped beam shooting past them at the speed of light. As a result the corkscrew blast shot past the ruins and struck the barrier wall on the other side of the battle zone, destroying it in a massive explosion of fire and rubble.

Frown appearing on his face, Bojack and his crew turned to where the attack had come from and instantly spotted a tall, green figure with a white cape floating in the sky above them, his arms crossed and a serious look on his face. The sight of the mysterious figure had the invading aliens tense up, whereas the Z-fighters gathered down below breathed collective sighs of relief.

Gohan was especially happy, shooting a grin up at his old mentor. "I was wondering when you were gonna show up."

"I sensed a disturbance. So I came back to check things out," Piccolo replied, his eyes then panning across to the group of invaders standing nearby. After counting the number of enemies there were and the source of the ominous power level he'd sensed earlier, the Namekian grunted and reached up to grab his turban. "And I'm glad that I did, because it looks like you've finally found yourselves a decent fight." Tossing away his headwear and his wide-shoulder cape, the man then brought his knuckles up and cracked them one at a time.

Sneering irritably, the leader of the aliens then watched the newcomer fly down to join the rabble, where he then stood alongside the rest of his comrades defensively. Noticing that the Z-fighters' numbers had increased once again, Bojack knew that things had become a lot more troublesome for him and began tapping his finger against his arm impatiently.

Zangya meanwhile, still sitting comfortably on her perch, couldn't help but giggle, "It looks like things have gotten a lot more interesting."

As Gohan, Yamcha, Android 18, Piccolo and Tien stood in a row, sizing up their opponents and their strengths, the latter of the group then spoke. "What can you make of these guys so far?"

"All of them are seriously strong and all of them are really good fighters," Gohan replied, his eyes narrowing as he glanced from Zangya to Gokuha. "If I had to guess, they're probably even stronger than those clones Cell created to attack you guys during his tournament."

This news had Yamcha's eye twitch and jaw clench, as he remembered the outcome of that battle all too well, "That… doesn't bode well for us, does it?"

"No. It doesn't," Tien answered while clenching his fists. "But I'll be damned if I'm going down without a fight."

His attention settling back on their boss, Gohan inhaled deeply, "They're also really well organized. The way that they move and fight is like how a group of highly trained soldiers would operate. If we try to go after their boss, they will just attack us from behind and pick us off one by one." He then clenched his fists and started raising his power level at a steady rate. "I'm not taking any chances. I'll go Super Saiyan 2 and take them all out in one shot-"

"Wait," Piccolo suddenly spoke, causing the youngster to look across at him in surprise. Expression unchanged, the ever serious Namekian then continued calmly, "Remember what your father and I taught you. Pace yourself. Don't go all out until you've figured out what your opponent is fully capable of. As far as we know we've only seen a fraction of the enemy's strengths and abilities. And there are four of them. If you try going at them at full power, they might have a nasty surprise waiting up their sleeves." Looking at the aliens faces, they could clearly see the composed yet smug expressions all of them were currently wearing.

That didn't exactly fill the group with much confidence.

At this, Gohan then nodded in understanding, "Alright."

"Your Ascended Saiyan form is your trump card. Feel them out in your base form then, once you've forced their hand, go for it," Piccolo instructed, before a smirk appeared on his lips and he glanced down at the boy, which prompted his former student to look up at him. "And don't forget we're fighting too. There's no need for you to carry the weight of the entire planet all by yourself, kid. This is our home as much as it is yours."

After staring up at his master in awe for a moment, Gohan then smiled and nodded in understanding, before looking around at the others. When he saw the smiles on Tien, Yamcha and Android 18's faces, he knew that they were in this too. So, with the stage set and the prizes weighed, the half-Saiyan turned his focus back to his opponent. He saw Zangya still perched on her railing, twirling a finger through her long orange hair casually, which prompted him to smirk.

"It would be pretty rude of me to cut our duel short," Gohan replied, his Saiyan blood starting to boil as he clenched his fists excitedly.

This earned a grin from the bewitching blue alien as she uncrossed her legs and swayed them back and forth in front of her like a teenage girl would. "Orders, boss?"

When Bojack leered down at the group and saw all of them assume fighting stances, the leader then cocked his head to the side and nodded to them. "Take them."

Without another word, both Bujin and Gokuha raised their hands and fired two red blasts at the group. In return the Z-fighters, namely Gohan and Tien, retaliated with two golden blasts of their own, their attacks colliding with their enemy's and detonating with the force of a nuke. As flames engulfed the entire area and turned the artificial estate into a half mile crater, through the smoke and the debris Gohan landed a safe distance away with Krillin in his arms. Upon setting his friend safely behind a boulder, he then sprang out of the cloud's radius and into the sky where, upon looking down at the smoldering fissure below, watched Zangya burst of the smoke and come chasing after him.

Parting the dust with her speed, the grinning Hera-seijin then gave a loud battle cry as she struck at Gohan with a flying right overhand, which collided with the boy's cross-arm guard, sent him through the dome's barrier and into the next battle zone. Upon which the pair once again engaged one another in a furious exchange of blows, shockwaves ringing throughout the sky like invisible fireworks as the pair streaked across the artificial sky of the battle zone in a blurred, aerial fistfight.

As the wall between the two battle fields turned to rubble and cascaded to the ground, shaking the region with its collapse, the other Z-fighters also retreated into the next zone, a massive, gothic cityscape stretching from one horizon to the next, while at the same time being pursued by Bojack's henchmen.

Springing high up onto the roof of an old apartment building, Piccolo took a wide stance and watched with bared teeth as Gokuha came flying down at him with his sword. With a battle cry the blue warrior slashed down at the Namekian with his sword. The Z-fighter reacted fast, stepping in, reaching up and catching the man's sword arm by the wrist, using his momentum to twist it into an uncomfortable position. Upon which the Namekian swung his leg across and struck the man in the chest with a backwards heel kick. The blow sent the swordsman crashing into the building next door, punching him through the lower flowers and collapsing the entire structure on top of him.

Following up, Piccolo lobbed an energy ball into the cascading ruins. But instead of seeing it explode there was a sudden flash of light, followed by the dust, debris, and the Namekian's attack being split in two and effectively dispelled. As the two halves of the Z-fighter's attack shot off over the city, Gokuha, standing in the ruins of the neighboring building with his sword pointed to the floor and feet set into a wide stance, glared back up at his foe. Upon which he then leapt from the ground and rocketed up at the Namekian.

As for the rest of the gang, they were having problems of their own.

Being chased across the city rooftops, a fully powered up Yamcha cupped his hands forward and fired off a powerful blast at the little alien in the turban chasing him. When his attack hit nothing as his target sped right over it and charged at him, the scar-faced martial artist let out a yell and rushed at him instead.

"Get back you little-" He took a swing when he was in range, but his attack was too slow and the Z-fighter instead received a prompt and vicious elbow to the face. "GAH!"

With a scream Yamcha was sent spinning into a steeple in the middle of town, which his body crashed into and ended up embedded, upside-down, unconscious, blood trickling from his nose and mouth, and sprawled out against the brickwork.

Giggling at his quick victory, the tiny Bujin raised his hand and charged a red energy ball, only to suddenly receive a kick to the back of the head when Android 18 dropped down from the sky and sent the little man smashing through a house. Watching the building's roof collapse the cyborg prepared for the alien's retaliation, which came moments later when, floating up from the other side of the damaged structure, she saw the small alien float into view, levitating over two dozen massive slabs of rubble and steel girders.

Smirking when she saw the blonde woman standing on the roof squarely in his sights, the little alien with his arms crossed prepared to hurl his telekinetically controlled debris at her. But when a blast from above destroyed one of the car-sized boulders orbiting him, Bujin's eyes snapped upwards to see Tien hovering directly above him. Without an ounce of hesitation the turban-wearing Hera thrust his hand up and sent a stream of debris pelting towards the man.

Reacting fast, the bald-fighter flew off to the side, avoiding the girders and boulders that slammed into and impaled the dome wall of the battle zone behind him.

Dodging the debris that flew after him, Tien began returning fire, as did Android 18, both fighters beginning to fly circles around the telekinetic alien from a distance. However, as they quickly discovered, getting the alien with a direct shot wasn't going to be easy, as every blast they fired was effectively stopped by the field of debris circling him, which only began increasing in size as he started adding more to it from his surroundings.

Explosions ripped throughout the little city as the Z-fighters engaged their opponents. With the roving cameras struggling to capture all of the excitement going on and the landscape starting to crumble under the pressure, landing on a distant building out of reach of the warring groups, the pirate leader Bojack chuckled in amusement, watching as the fireworks erupted all about him.

"This is going to be a lot of fun," the large Hera-seijin exclaimed under his breath.

OOO

(Meanwhile)

Up in the stadium sitting high above the battle zones, the people lining the seats and stands were all still cheering and applauding eagerly as they watched the intergalactic 'visitors' go head to head with the Z-fighters on the enormous monitors. Though the invaders were certainly terrifying in appearance and all of them were flying about the battle zone like a group of demons, the spectators thought that this was all part of the competition and simply enjoyed the drama that was being played out. Complete with heroic take downs and explosions.

All they needed now was 'The Champ' Hercule Satan to fly in and save the day.

Unfortunately the man was nowhere to be seen, as the great martial arts champion had barricaded himself inside the bathroom. He kept the Cash family's lawyer and producer out by claiming to have a potentially life-threatening stomach problem, which did well in keeping the man at bay for a little while.

The Cash family themselves were rather enjoying the presentation of the intergalactic fighters their manager had supposedly hired to fight for them today, and were sitting in their skybox with big grins on their faces and eyes filled with stars.

"This is brilliant," the portly billionaire X.S Cash chortled, his transparent shades flashing with excitement as he saw the tiny alien competitor levitating rubble and debris around him, and hurling them at both Android 18 and Tien. "The special effects are truly spectacular. We should host this competition again, only bigger and better!"

"The fans will certainly love it," the man's wife chirped while her son bounced about in his seat giddily.

"Wow! Look at them go!" Monty cheered while pointing up at the screen, where he could see Gohan exchanging blows with the frightening yet beautiful Zangya. When he saw the half-Saiyan catch her blow and toss her towards the city, the child looked up at his mum and tugged on her dress, "I bet Gohan is going to win this one, mother!"

Lotta Cash giggled and patted her son on the head, "I'm sure he will, sweetie. I'm sure he will."

Amidst the clamor of the spectators, the members of the Z-fighters sitting in the audience were watching the battles unfold with anxiousness and fear. Chi-Chi had her hands pressed together as she watched with baited breath as her son battled against the woman on screen, while Bulma cradled her infant son close, at the same time the child waved his hands towards the monitor excitedly.

Master Roshi, Oolong, Chiaotzu and Puar were also following the battles with uncertainty and dread, as they'd not only just watched Krillin get taken out but Yamcha as well. Needless to say, it wasn't looking very good for them.

Videl, hands gripping the railing in front of her tightly, gritted her teeth as she saw Gohan receive a kick to the body and then a punch across the face that sent him spinning through the sky. Upon seeing him recover and charge right back into battle, the girl's uneasiness grew.

"Come on, Gohan. Beat them… you can do it."

OOO

(With Trunks)

A couple of minutes after the fights in the central battle zone between the Z-fighters and Bojack's crew began, blasting through the dividing wall standing between the desert battlefield and this one, the blond haired form of a Super Saiyan Mirai Trunks could be seen chasing after the large form of Bido, whom he'd sent barreling into the dome's barrier.

Slamming several punches across the bulky alien's face when he caught up to him, the furious Saiyan managed to draw a couple spurts of blood from the demon, until Bido retaliated with a swift back fist that struck Trunks's guard and sent him spiraling across the fake town.

Managing to stop himself with a quick burst of ki, the noticeably bruised and battered young Saiyan huffed and once again dashed at his equally damaged foe. When Bido fired off a cluster of red energy beams from his fingers towards his approaching enemy, Trunks avoided them with a swift aerial barrel roll. Corkscrewing under the hail of blasts, he then flew up at his foe and cracked him across the face with a hook. When he tried for a second one, the obviously pissed off Bido then parried the kid's blow with his forearm, before then catching the young man's leg when Trunks followed up his attack with a kick. With a mighty heave and a yell the Hera tossed the time traveling fighter towards the city streets below, the hybrid plummeting to the ground with a yell.

Crashing through the roof of an apartment block and out the other side, Trunks slammed back first into the street, bouncing twice before springing to his feet into a quick recovery. The second he glared back into the sky above where he knew his opponent was flying about, the building next to him was suddenly demolished and an equally battered Piccolo came bursting onto the scene in a cloud of dust. The Namekian skidded to a stop through the debris and ended up back-to-back with the Saiyan hybrid.

Spinning around to see what was going on, Trunks then saw the green guardian's opponent appear in the sky several stories above them; sword drawn and a big smirk on his face.

Analyzing the man's weapon briefly, the Super Saiyan hybrid frowned, "How are you doing?"

"Not too well, if I'm honest," Piccolo responded, ignoring the bloody gashes across his chest, torso and shoulder left by his opponent's steel. Honestly, considering how strong this guy was, it was a bit of an unfair advantage.

"Well… I think we're all in the same boat here," the Saiyan responded, widening his stance when he saw Gokuha raise his sword and point it towards them.

The orange haired mercenary chuckled, "You want to dance too, boy?"

Growling at the cocky way the man was speaking to him, Trunks crouched low and shot up at the sword-wielding pirate. Seeing the brash half-Saiyan take off had Piccolo's eyes widen and the man extend his hand in warning, but it was too late.

"Trunks! Wait!"

As the Super Saiyan was charging towards Gokuha, who was slowly drawing his sword back into a two-handed grip, a sudden flash of purple lights streaking through the air in front of him had Trunks balk in surprise. A split second later the teen felt his arms snap to his sides and his body freeze in midair, when something akin to a dozen steel wires coiled around his frame and stopped him in his tracks.

Gasping in shock, the ensnared Saiyan looked over his shoulder. He quickly spotted his opponent standing on a nearby roof with his hands outstretched and a big shit-eating grin on his face. When he looked down at himself to see what had snagged him, Trunks immediately noticed the telltale signs of light reflecting off of a series of translucent, multi-colored wires, which had apparently been thrown by Bido and used to snare him.

Trying to fight against the wires only led to the energy strings digging into his skin. In a matter of moments- and much to Trunks's shock- the young Saiyan felt his energy start to leave him, as it was slowly sapped away by the wires and fed towards his captor.

"W-What?" the hybrid growled, pulling back against the bonds in another attempt to free himself. But as hard as he writhed, he just could not break out.

Piccolo, spotting the transparent cables glimmering in the sky above, narrowed his eyes seriously. "So… that's what you've been hiding." In a matter of moments he saw Trunks's Super Saiyan form vanish, his blond hair fading back to lavender and his muscle mass vanishing.

While this was going on, the gang's leader Bojack, who'd been watching the battles from afar, lazily floated down from the sky and landed on a nearby roof. From here he could watch as his men made short work of the half-Saiyan from the future.

Still struggling to free himself as the wires kept him in place, Trunks's attention then snapped back to the man he'd tried to attack. It was at that very moment the half-Saiyan's eyes widened when he saw Gokuha, sword held high, diving down at him in a blur of motion. In a matter of moments the Hera was directly in front of the hybrid and swinging down at him with his saber, a mighty battle cry leaving his lips.

Spotting the alien charging at the time traveler from above, Piccolo, reacting in alarm, threw his hand up and prepared to fire a blast, an orange ball of ki flashing into life in front of his palm.

"DIE, BOY!" Gokuha roared, while Trunks braced himself for the inevitable.

The instant the alien struck down at the trapped Saiyan, a sudden silver flash from the side knocked Gokuha's strike away, as a familiar broad sword thrown from an unknown user came flying out of nowhere, spinning like a propeller blade. The airborne weapon effectively intercepted the alien's swing and knocked his saber back with a loud 'clang'. Sparks flying as his momentum was effectively cut off, the startled Gokuha then sprang away to avoid the blast fired by Piccolo from below.

Bido, recoiling at seeing Gokuha's attack fail, then let out a yelp of shock when the building he was standing on went up in a fiery blue explosion, causing him to dispel his wires prematurely.

The energy bonds wrapped around his body vanishing, Trunks jerked forward with a start and, glancing downwards, caught the airborne sword when it boomeranged back to him, along with the scabbard that dropped down from the sky. Sheathing his blade and buckling the sheath around him, the lavender haired Saiyan grinned in delight. Looking across at the now destroyed building behind him, the boy saw an all too familiar silhouette rise up from the plume of smoke.

"Father!"

Moments later, a golden flash followed by a blast of wind cut away the tower of dust, revealing the cross-armed, armor-clad form of Vegeta assumed in his Super Saiyan form. The instant he transformed, the prince smirked.

"Leave them to me." The warrior then floated up into the sky, his eyes set squarely on who he believed was the leader, poised on the apartment roof on the other side of the road.

When Vegeta reached the same altitude that Bojack was standing the two men then stared each other down, with the prince holding his signature serious glare while the orange haired bandit smirked broadly, his trench coat billowing on the wind. As the other battles raged on in the background and Piccolo and Trunks looked on from close by, the stage was set for another battle to break out.

Brow creasing irritably, the Super Saiyan Prince huffed and, drawing his hands back, threw them forward and unleashed a powerful golden blast with a yell. His attack streaked towards Bojack who, bringing his own hands up, fired off a green blast of his own to meet his opponent's. Their attacks collided in midair, going up in a golden explosion that rattled the neighborhood and choked the air with smoke.

What immediately followed from there was an epic aerial dogfight, as both Vegeta and Bojack engaged one another in a shootout above the fake city. Golden and green flashes of light started ripping over the battle zone in the most spectacular lightshow ever conceived, as the two hardcore warriors attempted to knock one another out of the sky. Their battle quickly descended to the downtown suburbs where, using the multiple apartment buildings as cover, the pair began trading shots through and between the towering blocks.

Watching the explosive trail being left behind by Vegeta and Bojack as the pair ventured further and further into the distance, a baffled Trunks couldn't help but shake his head.

"I don't understand you father. You withdraw into the shadows ever since Goku's been gone and now suddenly here you are defending us? Why?"

Before anyone could answer his question, Trunks suddenly wheeled around when he sensed someone approaching and saw Bido charging at him from behind. Taking a stance, the time traveler prepared to engage the large Hera once again, only to suddenly see the man receive a kick to the back of the head from Piccolo appearing directly behind him, knocking the blue man into the building below. The second he hit the structure the entire thing collapsed in a shower of rubble and dust.

Watching the administration building implode on itself, Piccolo then glanced across at the surprised Trunks with a smirk. "What do you say we switch dance partners?" he then darted down into the rubble, where he saw Bido picking himself up. Before the Hera could fully recover from his fall he was tackled in the gut by the Namekian and sent barreling into another building, where the pair vanished through the debris.

Smiling at seeing Piccolo take the big guy off his hands, Trunks's focus quickly switched across the sky, where he saw Gokuha floating nearby with his sword sheathed and a deep frown on his face. The moment the teen spotted him his own smile vanished, whereupon he then clenched his fists and, with a grunt, went straight into his Super Saiyan form. His muscles bulked and blond hair spiked upwards as his golden aura surrounded him.

Noticing the kid transform caused Gokuha's expression to tighten up. When he did, every single piece of jewelry on him lit a hot gold before, with a rush of wind and a rippling shockwave, the swordsman let out a roar and his body was swallowed up by a fiery green aura. In an instant the man's black top was shredded as his mass expanded, his skin turned a sickly green, and his hair flashed a bloody red. The moment he finished powering up, he leered across at his foe, who couldn't help but grit his teeth irritably.

"Your move," Gokuha informed confidently.

Narrowing his eyes, Trunks then reached up and gripped his sword. His golden aura flaring up with a blast of wind, he then shot straight towards his foe with a loud battle cry, while the now larger Hera charged back in kind. Both men drawing their swords at the exact same time, they then collided in midair, their swords impacting one another with a deafening _clang_ that echoed outwards in the form of a shockwave.

As two of the buildings around them collapsed from the force of their exchange and the ground beneath them split from the direction of their strikes, the two sword-wielding warriors growled as they grappled fiercely with one another. Sparks and bolts of electricity danced between them as the pair then brought their legs up and kicked each other away. Upon which they then engaged in a vicious duel of steel above the city, their golden and green forms streaking through the sky and clashing in a series of sparks and clangs, their weapons flashing through the air around them in a series of silver streaks.

And so the battle raged on.

OOO

(Android 18 and Tien vs Bujin)

Dodging another string of red energy bolts and rubble sent flying her way, the bruised and exhausted Android 18 growled in annoyance when she saw another part of the battle zone collapse behind her. Flying up higher, she kept her eyes fixed on the cyclone of debris surrounding their diminutive foe, who she could hear was giggling in amusement as he watched his two opponents dance feebly around him.

At this point his confidence was starting to annoy both Android 18 and Tien, who had were battered, bruised, and running on fumes.

Seeing his targets glaring at him, the snickering Bujin brought his hands up and wagged his fingers, causing the wall of debris in front of him to form into a row. "What's the matter, insects? Tired already?" He then rotated his hands, causing all the sharpest points of the floating rubble to abruptly turn and aim at Eighteen and Tien. "Too bad, because I've only just started to show you what I can do." With a snap of his fingers, he then sent the pieces of building he was suspending shooting towards the pair at once.

Seeing the fast-moving projectiles approaching, the two then darted away, once again avoiding another wave of debris that impacted the battle zone's far wall and destroyed it. After dodging the assault and possible impalement by scaffolding, both the cyborg and the triclops converged in the sky over Bujin's position, who once again summoned more ammo from his surroundings.

"This guy is starting to get on my nerves," Tien remarked, earning a nod of agreement from the blond android.

"Yeah," Eighteen replied with a frown. "We have to do something about that debris field and get him to come at us in hand-to-hand. But how?"

Thinking on it for a moment, the bruised and battered martial artist then turned to the woman with a serious look. "I have an idea. It's risky, but it should work." He then leant over and whispered what he had thought up, causing Eighteen's eyes to widen and then look at the man with a start.

"Really?" When Tien nodded, the blonde cyborg frowned and shot him a glare. "Whatever you do don't hit me."

"Got it," the Z-fighter replied. "When I say so, close your eyes."

Face creasing in annoyance, Bujin then cocked his head and shouted, "Hey! This is no time for chit-chat! I'm still here!" The little imp in the turban then thrust his hands forward and sent another telekinetic hail of rubble at the pair.

Scattering, Tien and Eighteen once again dodged the man's projectiles, with the human going high while the woman went low. Darting across the apartment rooftops, the cyborg raised her hand and fired off a cluster of blasts towards Bujin's position, who used a quick hand swipe to bring two large slabs of building in front of him to block the attacks. The Hera then raised his other hand and prepared to launch another salvo of pillars at her, only to look up when he heard a shout.

It was then he spotted his three-eyed target hovering in the air high above the battle zone.

"NOW!" Tien shouted, signaling Eighteen to stop and cover her face with her arms, while his hands splayed out on both sides of his head. His expression scrunching up, the warrior shouted. _**"TAIYOKEN!"**_ (Solar Flare) A blinding flash of light then shot down from above and hit Bujin square in the face, the entire neighborhood becoming engulfed by the strobe and filling everyone's vision with a painful white haze.

Unable to cover his eyes in time, Bujin let out a howl of pain and hunched forward, his telekinetic control over the debris field dispelling and dropping all the rubble to the ground. "GAH! My eyes!" Rubbing his face with both knuckles, the tiny alien attempted to shake off the stunning attack as quickly as he could.

Spotting the opening, Tien then thrust his hand down, pointed his finger and yelled. _**"Dodonpa!"**_ (Boom Wave) A golden beam then shot from the tip of his digit and towards Bujin's position, intent on taking him out with one hit.

The Hera though sensed the incoming danger and flew straight up as fast as he could, avoiding the beam. What Bujin didn't count on however was being blindsided from above by Android 18 dropping down on him with a hammer blow, which slammed into his head and sent him straight into the ruined city below. The instant he impacted the road, the blonde woman aimed both her hands down and, with a yell, unleashed a hail of lightning fast energy bolts. Her attack bombarded the area the alien had crashed in, decimating the neighborhood with a series of multiple golden explosions that were capable of laying waste to an entire countryside.

As Eighteen continued to bomb the area relentlessly and a thick cloud of smoke started to spew into the air and block out her vision, she suddenly spotted a shadow approaching her from below. Rocketing out of the plume, a singed, burnt and enraged Bujin shot up at her with a scream of rage, where he then thrust a punch up at the woman. Catching both wrists when he attempted to pummel her, the blonde cyborg gritted her teeth and attempted to hold the man in place.

But as she was slowly pushed back through the sky, Eighteen quickly realized she wouldn't be able to hold him for long.

Smoke trailing off of his burnt and battered form, Bujin barked, "You thought that pathetic attack would kill me?! HUH?!"

Jaw clenched as she grappled with the small alien, the cyborg then grinned, "I wasn't trying to kill you. I was trying to stall you."

Bujin then blinked in confusion, "Stall me? For what?"

" _ **KIKO-HOOOOOOOO!"**_ A loud yell from the side echoed before the entire area was lit up by an orange flash of light.

When the baffled Bujin's gaze snapped to his left, he saw a massive, diamond-shaped blast rocketing towards him at an incredible speed. Realizing that it was his other opponent that had fired it, his eyes then widened in horror as the attack expanded at an absurd rate before, with a scream of terror, he was hit head-on by the blast. The geometrically perfect technique swallowed up the man as it streaked towards the horizon of the battle zone, where it struck the distant wall, shot off the island and blasted across the curvature of the planet.

The attack faded moments later, revealing Android 18 floating there with her eyes tightly shut and a square-shaped, smoking trench carved across the entire battle zone a few stories beneath her.

Opening her eyes and looking in front of her, the blond cyborg saw that she was still holding Bujin's fists, only… they weren't really attached to anything.

Apparently Tien had fired his blast close enough and accurately enough that he was able to engulf his target entirely, while leaving Android 18 completely out of harm's way. The result of the move spoke for itself, as the full-powered attack had completely incinerated their opponent, leaving only the parts the blond cyborg was holding onto intact.

Tien, his four hands still locked together in a diamond shape, then deactivated his _**Four Witches Technique**_ and allowed his two remaining arms to drop to his sides tiredly. "Man… glad that's finally over."

"Yeah," Eighteen murmured, starting at the hands she was still holding before narrowing her eyes and dropping them. "Gross." Wiping her hands on her ruined top, the woman then glanced towards the city when she heard a series of explosions ring out. When she spotted a tower in the distance collapse from a blast being fired through it and saw a Super Saiyan Vegeta fending off the undamaged form of Bojack, the blond frowned. "I suppose we have to go take care of big, tall and ugly now, don't we?"

Also seeing the problem for himself, Tien nodded in agreement. "Seems like it." Clenching his fists and powering up, he then leant forward and took off. "Come on. We have to help."

Android 18 swiftly followed suit. Though they were successful in bringing down one of the invading aliens and had won _their_ battle, both she and Tien knew that the war was far from done…

OOO

(Piccolo vs Bido)

Over on the other side of the city, amidst a mountain of flaming rubble and gaping craters, the former guardian of Earth was still locked in an epic power struggle with his incredibly large and physically strong foe. After several minutes of trading blows in the air above the deserted city, their aerial kick boxing match quickly degenerated into a slugfest in the town below, where the duo ended up punching, kicking and throwing one another through the various buildings. They even launched blasts at one another at pointblank range, challenging each other to take their best shots.

This is how their part of the city ended up in such ruin, with only a few structures in their rundown neighborhood left standing.

Panting heavily as he watched Bido pick himself up out of the crater he'd landed in, Piccolo put his fingers to his forehead, powered up and jabbed them forward. _**"Makankōsappō!"**_ He then launched his signature orange spiral beam straight at the alien, intent on impaling him and killing him with a single shot.

Seeing the fast-moving attack streaking towards him at light speed, a wide-eyed and bleeding Bido sprang to the side, barely avoiding the attack when it shot past him. After the beam struck a distant hill and detonated in the form of a massive dome-shaped blast, the bulky Hera cocked back his hand and lobbed a red energy ball straight towards Piccolo.

Bringing his own hand over his shoulder, the Namekian backhanded the attack and sent it arcing into the sky, upon which he then rushed in to take Bido head on, who did the exact same thing. Screaming, the two warriors collided in the middle of the field with a deafening thunderclap, where they wound up grabbing each other by the hands and locking one another in a pushing match.

The two warriors growled as they forced every ounce of their strength upon their opponent- the ground cracking and disintegrating beneath them. As their feet started to sink into the floor, Piccolo, giving a mighty roar, reared his head back and slammed it into Bido's face. His cranium landed with the sickening sound of bones crunching as the alien's nose was crushed, the blue alien stumbling away with a cry of pain. Upon which Piccolo then pulled his fist back and slammed it into his cheek, sending the large Hera bouncing across the landscape to then crash into a distant boulder.

The rock pulverizing underneath the man's back, a stunned and exhausted Bido huffed and looked up, where he saw an equally tired Piccolo sprinting towards him. Gritting his teeth, the alien then threw his hands forward and unleashed a barrage of energy wires, which coiled through the air and snared the Namekian. The green warrior stopped just a few yards away with a gasp, his body jerking into a frozen position as he felt all of his momentum vanish.

Giving a boisterous laugh of victory, the bloodied and bruised Bido then barked at the frozen earthling. "You're finished, green man!" Watching Piccolo struggle and writhe under the transparent wires uselessly for a few seconds, the Hera then proceeded to tighten his hold. "As soon as all of your energy is drained, I will cut you to-"

Just before he could finish his sentence, Piccolo's eyes widened and flashed, before two beams shot out and struck Bido squarely in the chest. The attack went straight through the alien and out the back, splattering blood across the floor and causing the Hera's wires to dispel instantly. Lurching forward with his eyes wide in shock, blood then gurgled out of the invader's mouth as he clutched the two pupil-sized holes in his pectorals.

Feeling the bonds vanish from around him, the Namekian breathed a sigh of relief and walked towards the stricken Bido, who'd collapsed to his knees from the pain. "Now, you see, the thing about using those energy wires is that you can't move around too well after you've cast them. You need to keep both hands out and all of your attention focused on keeping them active, leaving your body stationary. That makes you a big target." Stopping directly in front of the kneeling, gasping Bido, the battered Namekian, his gi ripped, body bruised, and lip bleeding, spat to the side. "Remember that the next time you use it." He then raised his hand and pointed it squarely at the alien's face.

Before the Hera could say anything to get Piccolo to stop or even so much as scream, a flash of light and an orange blast shot out of the Namekian's palm and engulfed his head, disintegrating it and the rest of his body in an instant…

OOO

(Trunks vs Gokuha)

More clangs rang out across the sky as the two sword wielding warriors continued clashing, their forms darting through the air in multiple directions, trailing sparks and fire wherever they went. After several more engagements that saw a dozen more silver flashes resonate across the battle zone's space, a loud shockwave then echoed out as Gokuha was unexpectedly kicked out of the air by his opponent appearing directly overhead and getting the drop on him. It seemed like a successful attack.

But as the Super Hera fell out of the air, the bandit threw his hand out and lassoed a cluster of wires around Trunks's leg, snaring him and yanking him down with him.

The half-Saiyan gave a surprised yelp as he was pulled out of the sky and slammed into the valley several yards from where Gokuha crashed. When the dust settled and the two pushed themselves back to their feet seconds later, the sword users then looked up and glared daggers at each other.

By this time both of them were covered in burns, cuts and bruises, showing just how hard both warriors had been trying to kill each other.

Taking his saber into two hands, the shaking and wounded Gokuha huffed as he watched his opponent widen his stance, "Let's finish this."

Brandishing his weapon so that his blade flashed at his enemy, the equally wounded Trunks lowered his head and braced himself. "By your lead."

Without even so much as a second thought, the green-skinned Hera bent his knees and shot forward with a sonic boom, charging across the open ground towards his foe like a samurai. Trunks mimicked his actions, a cloud of dust trailing behind him as he sprinted at his opponent with his jaw clenched and aura blazing around him.

Both men tore a path across the open field at such speed they were both nothing more than a couple of indiscernible gold and green blurs heading towards one another. When the two finally collided in the center of the barren wasteland outside of the city, there was a blinding flash of light and a loud, metallic echo as both their blades connected with full force.

The moment the blinding flash faded, both men had switched places; standing on opposite sides of each other with their backs turned and weapons extended, indicating a finished strike. At first the two transformed fighters remained where they were, glaring ahead of each other as their minds slowly processed what'd happened.

Then it hit them.

Gasping painfully, Trunks suddenly dropped to his knee and spat up blood, at the same time his Super Saiyan form dissipated with a dull shimmer. Looking at his form, one could clearly see his opponent's sword had carved right across his side, leaving a noticeable gash in his abdomen that the time traveler was now clutching with his bare hand. What's more, the shining broadsword he was holding in his right hand had snapped in half, with the top half of the weapon missing.

While Trunks had collapsed to the floor following their exchange, a still transformed Gokuha stood upright, chuckling as he slowly turned to face his fallen foe. Sword still in one piece, the snickering Hera saw the hybrid Saiyan glare painfully over his shoulder, trembling from head to toe and unable to move from the injury he'd sustained.

It seemed like Gokuha had won their little Iai contest.

But several seconds after the man had turned around, the redheaded Gokuha's laughter suddenly slowed and slurred, before a trickle of blood dribbled out of the corner of his mouth. Still smiling and chuckling in a strange manner, the man then swayed on the spot, dropped his sword, and fell to his knees with a loud thud.

As it turns out, when Trunks's sword snapped against the Hera's thicker, more robust saber, the top end of the Saiyan's sword had embedded right in the center of his chest where his heart was, and was now sticking out of both ends of his body. It took a moment for the damage to finally register to the alien and once it did, all feeling and sense of consciousness left Gokuha completely.

The moment he dropped to his knees, the Hera then keeled forward and slammed face first into the dirt, his lifeless form reverting back to his base as blood slowly started to pool on the ground around him.

Panting and gasping for air after finally seeing his opponent drop, Trunks then gulped exhaustedly and picked himself off the floor. Still holding his broken sword, the young adult then spun it about all-cool-style and sheathed the remaining half into the scabbard on his back. Upon which his eyes turned towards the city.

Sensing the fierce battle between his father and the aliens' boss still raging on, the half-Saiyan from the future clenched his fists and, with a quick power up and jump to Super Saiyan, took off into the sky to join the others in battle.

From what he could sense, it was not going well…

OOO

(Vegeta vs Bojack)

As valiant and epic as his entrance to the party had been, the Prince of all Saiyans quickly found himself on the losing end of his fight with the leather-clad Hera-seijin leader.

After a sporadic shootout across the city, which saw to the destruction of multiple buildings, hills and sections of the battle zone dome around them, the duo then moved in to duke it out with one another head to head. Vegeta managed to land a few good hits on his foe, using his superior speed and technique to assist him. But as he quickly found out, his opponent was a lot tougher than he'd anticipated and, from the arrogant smirk that remained on the scar-faced Bojack's face, the guy was only humoring him.

Over the next several minutes the alien leader then proceeded to kick Vegeta around the empty city, sending him flying through buildings and random structures across the suburbs. More explosions and shockwaves echoed throughout the skyline, sending rubble and smoke hurtling into the air.

When the Saiyan rushed at his opponent, bruised and bleeding from his face, he attempted to nail the demon leader with a hook, only to receive a heavy hammer blow from above. The attack slammed into his body with a deafening crack and effectively punted Vegeta out of the sky and down into the streets below. Crashing into the floor, the prince smashed a twenty foot wide crater into the rock and concrete.

Bojack chuckled loudly from where he floated. "Struggle all you want. Your attempts to stop me are worthless."

Spitting up blood and attempting to sit up, Vegeta growled when he saw the airborne Bojack aim both hands at him and launch a green blast at his position. The attack rocketed towards him at a terrifying speed, growing in both size and strength. But just as the blast was about to consume the prince in his entirety, a golden bolt from the right suddenly slammed into the side of the green sphere and sent it shooting off into the distance. Seconds later Android 18 and Tien came charging into battle.

"Oh, no you don't!" the three-eyed male shouted as he powered right up to Bojack's position with a punch, only to miss when the blue leader speedily and rather acrobatically flipped over Tien faster than he could track. The moment he did, Bojack then dropped a kick down onto an unsuspecting Eighteen approaching from behind, striking her in the stomach and causing her to choke up spit as she was effectively kicked out of the sky and into an apartment block.

Once he'd fended off the cyborg, the pirate then swung out and punched Tien across the face when the stunned martial artist looked over his shoulder to try and follow him.

The bone-crunching blow sent the human bouncing off of the roof of a house, where he then ended up tumbling to a painful heap across the tiles. But just as Bojack was preparing to finish off the bald warrior, the giant of an alien received a swift knee across the face from Piccolo flying at him from a blind spot. The swift, dull crack of his jumping attack sent the demon leader spinning through the air, who then stopped moments later and looked back with a growl to see the Namekian rushing at him a second time.

With a roar, the green fighter from earth struck out at the alien, attempting to nail him between the eyes, only to watch Bojack move forward in a blur, avoid his punch and knee him in the solar plexus. Coughing up blood, Piccolo was then kicked across the face and sent spinning through the air, but stopped himself with a quick burst of ki.

When Bojack saw Piccolo spin around to face him again, his eyes then glanced over his shoulder to see Trunks stop behind him, dropped in a fighting stance and assumed in his Super Saiyan form. His arrogant smile fading from his bloody lip, the barely damaged alien then looked to his left, where he saw the battered forms of an exhausted Android 18 and Tien float up to face him. Then, looking to his left, he saw Vegeta join their formation, fists clenched at his sides and a fierce glare set upon him.

"It's over for you, monster," Android 18 spoke, ignoring her messy hair, ruined outfit and the blood leaking from the corner of her mouth.

"No matter what, we will not let you take this planet," Trunks stated, his own glare mirroring that of his father's. "Because we are going to take you down, right here, right now."

After a moment of glancing around at the multiple opponents floating around him, Bojack closed his eyes and smirked. Seconds later a series of low chuckles reverberated from his throat, followed by a long and sinister laugh that had the five warriors surrounding him assume defensive stances. After which the scar-faced demon opened his eyes.

"Fools," Bojack said in a deep, intimidating tone of voice. "Soon you will know the full and terrifying wrath that is Bojack; the scourge of the universe and the conqueror of worlds!" The alien leader then clenched his fists and, after concentrating for a moment, slowly crossed his arms over his face. What followed was a series of miniature sonic booms that shredded his leather jacket and bandana as a green aura erupted from his body, which caused his muscles to bulk up, his hair to turn blood red, and his skin green. The moment his form went up the demon then gave a howl of rage, his arms thrusting outwards and sending a gust of wind ripping across the city.

As buildings beneath him caved in and the ground split from the force of his transformation, the group of five Z-fighters hovering in the air looked on in horror when they sensed Bojack's power level go through the roof. Once the alien had finished expelling energy, his strength had grown to such a preposterous height that all of them felt like they were reliving an all too recent nightmare.

"H-Holy crap," Tien shivered as sweat started trickling down his face. "His… power level…"

"It's exactly the same as Cell's," Piccolo stammered, unable to believe what he was sensing either.

Chuckling as he allowed his body to relax from its tensed up state, the fully transformed Super Hera then set his sights on the collection of warriors around him. Noticing the looks of shock and terror slapped across their faces, Bojack leered threateningly.

"Now… you _die_."

OOO

(Gohan vs Zangya)

Way outside of the city making up the majority of the central battle zone, in the fields of rolling hills close to the edge of the perimeter wall, the two young fighters were still clashing with one another in a chaotic yet awesome display of strength and skill. Darting across the landscape, the pair chased each other in the form of two imperceptible blurs, every so often tagging the other player whenever they crossed paths and locking in a brief exchange of blows, before separating and repeating the motion again.

Using whatever strategies they could both come up with to try and outflank their opponent and catch them off guard, both Gohan and Zangya traded several more attacks, until one of them finally made a move.

Twirling on the spot, a noticeably bruised and beaten up Zangya, with blood trickling from the top of her head, let out a yell as she opened up her hand and pelted a red ball of energy straight towards her opponent. _**"BEAUTY TRIGGER!"**_ The red bolt of ki curved towards Gohan's head and was on a clear path to hitting him.

However, spotting the attack coming in slow motion, the less damaged half-Saiyan ducked it and rushed straight at his opponent, catching the woman by surprise at his speed.

Zangya reacted instinctively, retaliating with a few sharp blows towards Gohan's head. When the boy parried and countered with a hook across her face, Zangya thrust a kick at him in response, only for the demi-Saiyan to catch her limb, dive forward and throw both of them into a spin. Their forms blurring together as they fell, the fast-flipping Gohan let out a yell and released his opponent, sending her shooting towards the planet at speed.

A loud clap of a meteor making landfall echoed throughout the air as Zangya went splat into the ground, sending a large puff of dust and debris into the air from where she landed, and splitting a hill right down the middle. Before the cloud could settle, Gohan slapped his hands over his forehead and, concentrating hard, let out a yell.

" _ **Masenko…"**_ He then threw his body and hands forward, a sonic boom ringing out as a golden blast erupted from his palms, _**"-HAAAAAAAAA!"**_ Gohan's attack filled the air with a golden glow as it rocketed down to Zangya's position, intent on engulfing her and taking her out of the fight in an instant.

Managing to stand up from the crater she'd formed, the battered woman gasped at the sight of the incoming blast. Thinking fast, she then swiped her hands in front of her, unleashing a dozen translucent wires that coiled through the air like a net. _**"**_ _ **Chōnōryoku!"**_ (Psycho Threads) The threads expanded in a flurry of lightning fast streaks, which intercepted the oncoming attack and diced it to pieces.

The blast, cut into a dozen blocks, then scattered across the battlefield and peppered their surroundings. Upon which Zangya whipped her wires through the sky and hurled them at her adolescent target, intent on snaring him next and robbing him of his energy.

Spotting the stream of barely visible webbing flying at him, Gohan, using his training, snapped his hand out and caught the wires. As they coiled around his fingers, he clenched it into a fist, spun around and, with a mighty yell and a heave, yanked Zangya off the ground. The female Hera let out a cry of surprise when she felt her body get pulled into the sky, where the young Super Saiyan spun her through the air like a lasso, before throwing her back towards the ground, which she slammed into with a violent crash.

Her wires dispelling, Zangya groaned in agony and slowly pushed herself out of the crater she'd formed. Once she was on all fours, she looked up to see Gohan touch down on the ground a few yards in front of her, a serious look reflected in his eyes as he stared at the wounded girl.

"It's over. You're done," Gohan said in a firm and commanding voice.

Huffing angrily, Zangya shook her head. "No! I'm not finished yet!" the young woman shouted as she pushed herself to her feet, only to stumble and fall onto her backside. Yelping in pain, the Hera then glared through one eye back at the Saiyan child. "I have to beat you… I _must_ … otherwise he'll kill me."

At this statement Gohan blinked in surprise, "Who? Your boss?"

Rolling forward onto her knee allowed Zangya a better position to move, as she used that moment to catch her breath and to stop her head from spinning. "If I don't follow his orders… he won't just punish me. He'll break me, torture me… make an example of me in front of the rest of the group. Then, once he's satisfied with my suffering… he'll kill me… just like he did everyone else." She then glared back up at the boy through a slightly half-lidded gaze. "All of us do what Master Bojack tells us to do. If he even so much as detects a hint of insubordination, he will end our lives without so much as a blink."

Appearing stunned, the demi-Saiyan then frowned and stepped forward. "But there are four of you. Why can't you guys just stand up to that monster? Tell him you won't do as he says anymore?"

Zangya shook her head, "They won't. Gokuha, Bido, Bujin… all three of them are either too scared or were turned around years ago The rest of us died in battle or were killed by Bojack. With no home to return to, they just followed him around wherever he went… and I was forced to tag along as his trusted lieutenant." When she looked down at the earth, memories of years long past soon began flickering through her head, causing her jaw to clench and her face to tighten. "You don't know what Bojack is capable of… what he's done. He wiped out all of my people and forced me to watch as he murdered my mother, my father, and my little brother right in front of me." Tears starting to brim in her eyes, the woman gave a sob and clenched her hands through the dirt, before then slamming it into the floor. "I can still hear their screams and see their faces in my nightmares."

Expression saddening when he heard this, Gohan's eyes then craned downwards for a moment of careful thought. All things considered, this was actually the first time he'd run into an opponent who wasn't just some mindless monster or a person driven by evil intent and desire. This girl in front of him, Zangya, she'd been forced into her master's servitude and forced to kill for him, all in order to protect herself and survive. What's more, she'd lost her entire family and her race to his hands, and had nowhere to go except stick with Bojack's group of hoodlums.

Sensing that she wasn't as bad as he thought she was before, the young Saiyan then resolved to do something about it. He wanted to help her.

Taking a page out of his father's book, Gohan clenched his fists and stepped forward.

"It doesn't have to be like that," the young Saiyan stated while moving towards the young woman cautiously. "You don't have to be afraid of him anymore. You can fight him-"

"No! No. You don't understand!" Zangya screamed, stopping the teen in his tracks at her outburst while her head snapped upwards. Brow furrowed and eyes burning blue, the young woman continued. "I can't fight him! I don't have a choice! Bojack… he's too powerful. Everyone who has tried to stand up to him has been destroyed by his hand or suffered an even worse fate. He killed my entire family, my friends, and everyone I've ever cared about. And if I try to face him… he'll just kill me too!" Standing up with a cry of fear and anger, a green aura blasted around the Hera's entire body, causing the jewellery she was wearing to glow a bright gold, her long hair to turn red and her skin to turn green. Her energy skyrocketing and sending a powerful gust blowing in all directions, pushing Gohan back along the ground, the woman then leant forward and yelled, "I WON'T LET THAT HAPPEN!"

Recoiling in alarm, the demi-Saiyan swung his arms up to protect himself. However, moving too fast for him to follow, the now red haired Zangya bolted forward in a blur and slammed a fist across his face. The attack landed with a deafening thunderclap, knocking Gohan off his feet and sending him spinning into a distant plateau, which exploded and collapsed on top of him.

Another bellow of effort left Zangya's lips as she threw her hands forward and unleashed a massive red blast surrounded by red bolts of lightning, which engulfed the landscape in front of her and swallowed up the area where Gohan had crashed. After her attack burned through the island and shot out the other side, incinerating almost everything in sight before shooting across the ocean, the woman then lowered her hands and panted heavily. The effort she'd put forth had managed to burn an enormous glass trench across the valley, leaving almost nothing standing.

From this observation alone it seemed like her battle was finally over, but then, as she watched the enormous cloud of smoke and dust fade, she heard the distinct sound of energy fluctuating in the distance. Squinting, she then saw a golden glow emerge from the wall of smoke, which blew away the veil of debris and revealed Gohan standing there in one piece.

Despite the amount of energy she'd put behind her attack, Zangya was astonished to see that there was barely a scratch on her opponent. Barring only a couple of bruised cheeks, a bleeding lip and a few tears in his orange and blue gi, the young Saiyan looked like her attack hadn't done anything to him. However, after getting a better look at the warrior before her, the Hera then noticed that his appearance had changed slightly.

Not only was his golden aura whipping around him more violently, but it was accompanied by a field of blue electricity, which sparked and shot off of his body like a storm. What's more, not only had his body achieved more definition and his face had become sterner, his once soft green eyes had taken on a darker shade of turquoise, and his golden hair had grown, spiked up, and was standing almost completely on end, leaving only a single bang hanging over his forehead.

Needless to say, the boy looked both cool and intimidating, a sight that had Zangya take a worried step back.

"N-No way," the girl whispered, only to then gasp in fright when she suddenly saw Gohan standing directly in front of her, causing her to trip and fall backwards.

The teen had been standing half a kilometre away from her. Somehow, while she was staring right at him, the Saiyan had managed to teleport to only a few feet away from her. And she didn't even blink!

How fast was he?

Staring wide-eyed up at the Super Saiyan 2 now standing over her, Zangya watched in silence as the teen, baring the menace and composure of a killer, held his arm out and extended his hand towards her. Knowing that a blast was sure to come, the trembling Super Hera shut her eyes and braced herself, prepared to face her maker in whatever form he took.

But then, after a few seconds of waiting for the inevitable burning sensation that was her death, the Hera suddenly felt a gentle poke on her forehead, which then prompted her to look up. When she did, she saw Gohan leaning towards her with his signature warm smile on his face. Thanks to his Ascended Saiyan state, it made him appear even more regal than he already was.

"We all have a choice." When he saw the girl blink, Gohan pressed on. "Right now, you have the chance to make things right, not just for yourself, but for your family and your entire race. If you want to make a difference in the world and redeem yourself for all the bad things you've done, use your powers to help others and protect those who can't fight for themselves. Stand up to the monster who's threatening you, look him dead in the eye, and tell him to go take a hike." Pausing for a moment as his eyes searched Zangya's, he then shrugged. "And if that doesn't work, just punch him really, _really_ hard in the face. Trust me. I do it all the time." He then raised his hand and offered it to her. "So… what do you want to do?"

Staring into the teen's grinning face and feeling her anxiety settle and become replaced by a sense of warmth, the Hera then glanced down at the Saiyan's hand and, for the next few seconds, considered it…

OOO

The battle with Bojack had taken a rather big turn for the worst.

The moment the demon assumed his Super Hera form, the fight quickly transformed into a one-sided ass kicking contest. The first to get dropped was Tien, who was downed by a single blow to the face and sent spinning into a building. After which the alien leader then targeted Trunks, who he clobbered and kicked through several buildings until he managed to knock the teen unconscious and into a clearing on the outskirts of town.

Vegeta, Piccolo and Android 18 tried to stop Bojack by attacking him from behind, but when they tried to get the drop on him, the demon viciously tossed and knocked them around the sky until he was satisfied. After a few minutes of endless pummelling, almost all three of the still active Z-fighters could be seen lying around the battlefield, barely conscious, clothes ruined, and covered in all sorts of bruises and wounds. The only one who managed to get back to his feet after the merciless beat down was Vegeta who, with his right arm hanging uselessly at his side, was now attempting to face off against Bojack in his base form.

Blood covering his right eye and his body armour cracked, the Saiyan Prince growled when he saw the red haired alien hulk, who barely had a scratch on him, smirk in his direction. "What the hell are you grinning at… you ugly, scar-faced freak? You think you're better than me?"

Bojack chuckled, "Of course."

"Well… you're not!" Vegeta barked back, as he then brought his fist up and thumped it against his chest. "I'm Vegeta; Prince of all Saiyans! The leader of the most powerful race in the universe! And I refuse to be beaten by some no-name, juiced up freak from another planet!" With a bellow of rage, the man's golden aura blasted around him. As soon as he transformed to Super Saiyan, the prince leapt off the ground and flew right at Bojack at full speed.

Attempting to clock the bandit across the face with a hook, Vegeta saw Bojack block it with his forearm. However, just when it seemed like his attack had failed, the Saiyan opened up his hand and unleashed a golden blast from his palm, hitting the demon right in the face at point-blank range. The attack erupted outwards, engulfing the invader's entire head and causing the warrior to lurch violently to the side. Immediately upon firing off his blast the Saiyan Prince leapt away and landed at a safe distance.

When the smoke cleared, it revealed a slightly surprised Bojack with his head cocked to the right and one side of his face burnt and simmering like a roast.

Vegeta laughed at the man's look. "Surprise, wretch."

Registering to the fact that he'd been hit, the Hera's expression suddenly twisted into one of fury and, spinning towards the Saiyan, he vanished in a blur. The next thing the prince knew was having his stomach caved in from a punch, which had the royal spit up blood, before the demon grabbed both sides of his head and began to squeeze.

A pained scream left Vegeta's mouth as he literally felt his skull begin to compress at an agonizing rate, his Super Saiyan form dissipating in an instant. Attempting to pull the demon's arms away with his arm, the Z-fighter dropped to his knees helplessly and Bojack slowly applied more pressure.

The Hera grinned broadly as he heard Vegeta's cries of pain fill his ears, encouraging him to keep going. "Surprise, whelp," Bojack cackled as he added more power to his move. With Vegeta continuing to flail and claw at his limbs uselessly, the demon pushed him further towards the floor, delighting in the noises he was getting out of him. "Heh-heh. I'm not going to stop until your eyes pop out and your brain explodes out the back of your skull!"

Alerted to the plight of their comrade, a stricken Piccolo and Android 18 attempted to get back up and into the fight. But as the former tried to push his chest off the floor and the latter off of her back from the pile of rubble she was lying in, the pair quickly realized that they no longer had the strength to do anything. Unable to budge or muster the energy for an attack, they knew that they were probably going to watch Vegeta die.

His consciousness starting to fade, the gaping prince's arms dropped to is sides as Bojack applied even more pressure. Laughing maniacally, the demon then prepared to crush the Saiyan's head once and for all, only to suddenly see stars when a fist came out of nowhere and slammed across his face. Blood flying out of his mouth as his grip around Vegeta's head was relinquished, Piccolo and Android 18 could only look on in disbelief as the alien leader's henchwoman, Zangya, landed the mother of all haymakers across his cheek.

Stumbling away in shock, a stunned Bojack then attempted to face his new attacker, only to receive three more pulverizing punches to the face, followed by a kick to the ribs that sent him skidding across the battlefield in a cloud of dust.

Spitting out the blood from his mouth as well as a tooth, the surprised alien leader growled, "Lieutenant! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"Making a choice!" Zangya barked before leaping from the ground and darting right at the demon a second time.

Growling, the gang leader attempted to backhand the woman, only to see her speedily jump over his blow and drive a knee into his face instead. When Bojack's head was knocked back, Zangya then tried for a punch, but suddenly had her body grabbed out of the air and crushed against the man's chest in a single-armed bear hug. A cry of pain was the one thing the female Hera was able to do before the back of her head was grabbed and yanked towards her leader's face, who then grinned at her murderously.

"So… it's finally come to this, huh?" Bojack snarled as he felt the woman squirm against him. "I figured that after I massacred your family you would've learned your place, Zangya. But it seems I'm going to have to show you again what it means to fear me. Do you think you're strong enough to stand up to your dear old boss?"

At this, Zangya sprouted a grin, "Yeah. I do." Without warning she then kneed him in the crotch, causing Bojack to lurch forward with a gasp of pain before he was elbowed across the face. The sight had both Piccolo and Eighteen cringe.

When the hulking demon staggered away, the female Super Hera rushed at him again to carry on her assault. But just before she could nail her boss with a kick, the man caught her leg with his massive hand, whipped her through the air, and then slammed her into the floor. The second her body formed a human-sized divot in the rocky ground, Bojack lifted his foot and slammed it into her stomach, causing the woman to spit up blood when he ground his heel into her ribs.

Bojack cackled madly, "You've got guts, woman, I'll give you that… but they're guts that I'm going to enjoy squeezing out of you!"

After managing to muster the strength to take a breath, the stunned Zangya then cracked a smirk. "No… you won't…" She then nodded to her right. " _He_ won't let you."

Bojack's pummelled face turning confused for a moment, the man's eyes then widened in fright when he suddenly felt a wicked tremor hit him from behind, which rattled the surrounding landscapes and sky. Shortly thereafter, as the ground started to shake even more violently, the Hera heard the sound of a massive explosion, its shockwave rumbling outwards in the form of a huge cloud of dust that fell every other building in the city behind him. By the time his eyes snapped over his shoulder to see what the cause of the strange anomalies was, Bojack saw a golden bolt crash into the field directly nearby, punching a crater into the ground and sending a shower of debris in all directions.

When the dust finally settled around the hole, an incredibly pissed off Gohan slowly emerged, surrounded by his golden aura and field of electricity. The smoke around his landing spot settling a few seconds later, Bojack clearly saw the path of destruction the boy had left in his wake when he legged it through the city to catch up to Zangya, who he'd allowed to get ahead. The result of simply flying over the town had collapsed every single building in his path, leaving a huge gap where the town centre used to be.

Upon seeing Gohan arrive, Piccolo, Android 18, Zangya, and a still miraculously conscious Vegeta smiled in relief and victory respectively.

After watching Bojack step away from his lieutenant, who he'd been stepping on moments earlier, Gohan's eye twitched menacingly as he had his full attention set on the demon.

"You came here looking for me, right, Bojack?" Gohan asked before his glare narrowed even more, "Well… here I am."

At first appearing taken aback at the boy's intimidating appearance and the amount of energy fluctuating off of him, Bojack then gave a wide, menacing grin before, holding out both his hands, unleashed a powerful stream of green energy at the teen. The blast shot out at great speed and expanded to a gargantuan size, swallowing up the impassive Gohan in an instant before engulfing a majority of the battlefield and city behind him. His attack, which filled up a majority of the arena's airspace, ended up slamming into the battle zone's barrier, destroying it and causing the entire island to shake violently.

The stadium above meanwhile shook from the tremors rushing up from below, drawing loud cheers of excitement and terror from the crowd as the cameras captured the entire thing. There were a few people present who expressed fear and worry that the competition might be going a little too far, with those key participants being Chi-Chi, Bulma, Videl, Master Roshi, and all the other Z-fighters watching the battles take place on screen. But as for the rest of the spectators, everyone else was having a blast from the performance.

The sight of the devastation he'd caused drew chuckles of amusement from Bojack, who watched with morbid satisfaction as the dust and smoke settled around the massive trench he'd torn across the land. But when the smoke faded over the spot where Gohan had been, the alien's grin vanished and a shocked look appeared on his face when he saw the demi-Saiyan standing perfectly still, in the exact same spot with barely a change in his expression.

The blast he'd fired had also left the ground directly behind the boy untouched, meaning he'd hit him head on but it'd done no damage to him whatsoever.

Zangya, gaze half-lidded, grinned at the sight of the boy and whispered. "Now you're going to get it, you demented psychopath."

Veins throbbing on his forehead and his jaw clenching angrily at seeing Gohan's unflinching gaze resting solely upon him, the clearly infuriated Bojack powered up and gave a mighty roar, "I WILL KILL YOOOUUU!" He then threw his hands forward and unleashed a shower of translucent energy wires from his fingers, which filled the air and shot towards the demi-Saiyan in a glowing purple net of death. _**"**_ _ **Chōnōryoku!"**_

Spotting the fast-moving wires flying at him, Gohan took a step back when they dropped around him. Eyes sharp and senses wide open, the teen quickly swiped his hands through the air and caught the energy net, the threads tightening around his fingers and cutting into his skin, drawing blood. The half-Saiyan held firm and, after digging his feet into the ground, glared fiercely across at Bojack as bolts of lightning shot off of him.

Stunned at seeing the boy catch his wires, the planet conquering Hera growled and barked in rage, "Don't underestimate me, you-" Before he could finish his threat, Gohan suddenly yanked his arms around and, performing an incredibly acrobatic spin, pulled a surprised Bojack off his feet and flying towards him at speed. With a yell of shock, the Hera's hold over the wires instantly dispelled when Gohan drove a kick right across his face and sent his body rag-dolling over the battlefield, his big green mass bouncing and digging a trench through the ground for several hundred feet. Moments later, when the dust from his flight finally settled, the demon could be seen lying face first in the dirt, groaning in pain and feeling absolutely humiliated.

Ignoring the cuts in his hands, Gohan kept his eyes locked on the spot Bojack had landed, watching the man shakily get back to his feet. Moving around to stand defensively in front of Zangya and his friends, all of whom were lying scattered across the battlefield behind him, the boy saw his opponent spit out the blood that was dribbling freely from his mouth and head, and snarl in his direction.

That one blow had done quite a bit of damage to the Hera. Not only was the demon swaying on the spot after he'd finally straightened up to full height, but he also had a massive indent in the side of his face from where his skull had been kicked, he had a swollen eye, a bent nose, and several missing teeth along his upper and lower jaw. And yet, despite all of that, he was still conscious.

"I know your kind. You think you can just waltz in and take our planet," Gohan spoke, sparks of electricity shooting from his body and striking the ground. When Bojack took a step back in fear, the teen pressed on. "But this world is not yours to take… nor is any other planet. That's why I'm going to make sure you never harm another living soul ever again."

His green aura blasting around him like a raging fire, Bojack bolted forward with a roar of fury. "You think you can beat me, boy?! I dare you to try!" He sprinted at the child, vaguely aware of the kid's sudden increase in ki and killing intent, which began flooding out of him in waves.

As Bojack rushed at him like a charging rhino, Gohan's eyes suddenly widened and his crackling, golden aura intensified. The teen then focused his energy entirely on his opponent and sent it blasting across the field in the form of a shockwave, which hit his target head on and swallowed up the demon instantly. As the tunnel of wind ripped across the battlefield, the ground around the two warriors began to splinter and crumble.

From a normal person's perspective it all happened in an instant. But from the Z-fighters' point of view, it all happened in slow motion.

As the powerful _kiai_ continued to erupt from the Saiyan in an unending gale of heat waves, the enraged Bojack pushed forward. His legs slowing as he forced himself through the hurricane one agonizing step at a time, the lead demon gave a snarl of effort and glared up at his target, who he could see through the raging torrent was now standing only a few yards away.

Determined to reach the child, Bojack took another clumsy step forward, only to stop when a searing pain suddenly gripped his entire body. Lurching forward and screaming in agony, the green warrior looked down at his trembling limbs, where he quickly saw random patches of skin start to burn, turn black and crumble into ash. Eyes widening in terror, the man looked up through the gale of wind and saw Gohan still glaring at him and feeding energy into his invisible blast.

In a matter of moments, chunks of Bojack's torso, back, legs and shoulders started to crumble and turn to dust, all the while the man attempted to get closer and closer to his target. But when the blast from the Saiyan unexpectedly intensified and another surge of energy rocketed down the tunnel of wind, the ground around them caught fire and started to melt, while even more portions of Bojack disintegrated into clouds of ash.

By this point it was a miracle the man was still alive… let alone standing.

Eyes wide and throbbing with rage and pain, Bojack screamed one last time at the demi-Saiyan, now only standing five feet in front of him, "YOU INSOLENT WORM! DO YOU THINK YOU CAN KILL ME?! **ME**?!" The man's cries ripped through the air, only to be silenced when another tidal wave of heat blasted off of the perfectly standing Gohan's body and struck him, causing his arms and legs to fall apart and burst into clouds of ash, while the remainder of his chest, torso and head slowly powdered to nothing. "NO ONE CAN KILL ME! I AM BOJAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-" With one last attempt to reach forward, the demon's disembodied head and torso turned into a thin cloud of dust.

At the same time the unflinching Gohan frowned, "And no one will ever remember your name." Inhaling deeply, the child finished off his opponent with gusto, letting out a roar of effort and one last shockwave that scattered the man's ashes to the wind. **"Shōkyaku Kiaihō!"** (Incineration Kiai Cannon) His attack rippled across the battle zone, causing the ground to distort and collapse everything in front of the Saiyan.

The blast wave was catastrophic, rocking the island on its foundations and disintegrating every single plateau, hill and boulder lying in the path of the kiai. It took several seconds for the tremors to finally subside, and once the rumbling and destruction in the wake of the invisible tsunami finally died down, all that remained of the event was a heavy cloud of dust hanging in the air and a completely flat real estate opportunity.

Golden aura still waving around him as he was watched by a stunned Zangya, Vegeta, Piccolo, Android 18 and an entire stadium of attentive viewers, the young Ascended Saiyan slowly reverted back to his first Super Saiyan form. His hair dropping to its blond Goku-esque spikiness, the young teenager stared ahead of him for about a minute. After which Gohan then turned around and beamed victoriously at his friends.

"That worked out better than I thought it would."

OOO

(Meanwhile)

Goku chuckled after watching his son and friends come out ahead in their battle against Bojack's gang through King Kai's telepathy. When he saw his boy stretch and go around making sure everyone was alright, the father took a deep breath and looked out over the infinite stretch of yellow clouds lying ahead of him.

"Yep… that's my boy," the Saiyan remarked proudly.

With Gregory and Bubbles dancing triumphantly in the background, having witnessed the entire thing on the television next to them, the now at ease North Kai smiled broadly. "You called it. Looks like everything worked out just fine after all."

"Uh-huh," Goku said as he looked back down at his son from above. "And I think things are going to be alright from here on out."

 _ **TO BE CONTINUED…**_


End file.
